Im Hyuntaek, Next President of KMA, "Government Conducting a Nationwide Fraud"

ILO "Urges Korean Government to Resolve Issues Through Social Dialogue"
"Everyone Has the Right to Resign from Unwanted Jobs"

Im Hyun-taek, the president-elect of the Korean Medical Association, raised his voice on the 29th, saying, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor has carried out a nationwide scam by falsely claiming that the resident doctors' organization is not subject to intervention by the International Labour Organization (ILO)."

Im Hyun-taek, president-elect of the Korean Medical Association, is answering questions at his first official press conference since his election, held at 11 a.m. on the 29th at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Choi Tae-won peaceful1@

At 11 a.m. that day, Im held his first official press conference since his election at the Korean Medical Association headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and disclosed the full text of a letter sent the previous day by Corinne Varga, Director of the International Labour Standards Department at the ILO, to the legal representatives of the Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeonhyup).

The letter contained the ILO's official stance on the issue raised by Daejeonhyup that the Korean government violated fundamental principles, rights of resident doctors, and the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) by issuing work commencement orders to resident doctors who resigned. The ILO Convention No. 29 defines forced labor in Article 2, Paragraph 1 as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily."

Earlier, Park Dan, president of Daejeonhyup, along with the Emergency Response Committee of Daejeonhyup, requested intervention from the ILO through legal representatives on the 13th. In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "Daejeonhyup is not a labor-management organization, so it does not have the qualification to request ILO intervention," and "the ILO has closed the matter on its own."

The ILO letter stated, "The ongoing dispute is understood as a healthcare reform due to demographic changes," and urged the Korean government to resolve the issue through social dialogue. It further added, "All information provided by the government related to this issue will also be forwarded to you (legal representatives of Daejeonhyup) for reference according to the procedures in place."

Im said, "Every citizen of the Republic of Korea has the right to resign from work they do not want to do. It is a clear fact that the Ministry of Employment and Labor did not respond to the ILO." He also questioned whether the Ministry's acknowledgment of the ILO's letter was because the full English text of the letter was published on his Facebook page.

Im raised his voice, saying, "I believe the public should hold the government accountable for carrying out a nationwide scam. The ILO's decision to intervene means that common sense accepted by the international community has been recognized. If the government recklessly responds, it will suffer international embarrassment." He added, "Since there are many grounds for unconstitutionality, I will file a lawsuit based on the results of the ILO intervention."

He also reiterated his stance that he would not accept the government's proposal for dialogue without the withdrawal of the plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students. Im said, "Our position is firm that we cannot concede the 2,000 medical school quotas. I think this is like playing Russian roulette with the lives of the people. The government, which should protect the safety and health of the people, and the ruling party, which should mediate conflicts, are completely dysfunctional."

Regarding the opposition parties critical of the government's medical school expansion, he pointed out, "During the COVID-19 period, former President Moon Jae-in defined the four major evils and relentlessly harassed medical students. Some could not take the national exam and changed their career paths. The previous administration is responsible for pushing things that way."