Welfare Vice Minister Who Sparked 'Uisae' Controversy: "Don't Even Know the Meaning... Korean Medical Association Made the Same Mistake"

Park Min-su, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, Clarifies 'Uisae' Pronunciation Controversy
"Did Not Intend It... Did Not Know the Meaning," Apologizes

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, is responding to lawmakers' questions at the hearing on the emergency situation in the medical sector held by the Health and Welfare Committee at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, reiterated that the pronunciation controversy over 'uisae' was "a slip of the tongue," noting that such expressions were also used within the medical community.

At a hearing on the emergency situation in the medical sector held by the Health and Welfare Committee on the 26th, Vice Minister Park, who attended as a witness, denied the criticism from Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, that pronouncing 'uisa' as 'uisae' in the past broke trust with the medical community, saying, "It was not intentional."

Vice Minister Park explained the reason for his remark, saying, "I did not know the meaning of the word 'uisae,' and I realized I had made the statement after the report came out. I immediately expressed regret through reporters. I think the pronunciation slipped when I spoke a lot."

Earlier, Vice Minister Park became the subject of controversy after pronouncing 'uisa' (doctor) as 'uisae' during a government briefing on February 19. Since 'uisae' is used by some as a derogatory term for doctors, the controversy intensified.

Medical organizations criticized Vice Minister Park for pronouncing 'uisa-deul-i' (doctors) as 'uisae-deul-i' in the part where he said, "While Germany, France, and Japan increased medical school quotas, doctors did not engage in collective action in opposition." Im Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), filed a police complaint against Vice Minister Park for insulting doctors. Among young doctors, a 'uisae challenge' emerged on social media, where they created memes combining 'uisa' and 'bird,' posted them on social networking services (SNS), or changed their profile pictures to criticize Vice Minister Park's remarks.

As the controversy grew, the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the time stated, "The remarks were about doctors overseas, not in Korea, and although doctors were mentioned many times during the briefing, the mispronunciation occurred only once," adding, "It is excessive to attack the person for a mistake made due to the Vice Minister being overworked and physically exhausted."

Uisae image. [Photo by Jeolmeun Uisahoe SNS]

At the hearing that day, Vice Minister Park emphasized that the expression was a mistake and claimed, "Although it was not reported, the 'uisae' remark also came from Joo Su-ho, the spokesperson of the KMA Emergency Response Committee at the time." The 'uisae' pronunciation by Spokesperson Joo, as revealed by Vice Minister Park, occurred during the KMA Emergency Response Committee's press briefing on February 28. At that time, Joo said, "(The government) may handcuff doctors and use violence to forcibly send them to work..." but 'uisa-deul-ege' (to doctors) sounded like 'uisae-deul-ege.'

Regarding Vice Minister Park's explanation, Representative Baek pointed out, "There is a completely different meaning between the person involved making such remarks and the other party doing so," adding, "If the government makes remarks like 'uisae,' the meaning is entirely different."