The Vote to Transition to the Emergency Committee was 'Rejected'
The Korea Medical Association (KMA), which is opposing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's plan to increase medical school quotas, made strong statements at a meeting convened to transition to an Emergency Response Committee (ERC). However, they decided not to transition to the ERC and to continue the struggle under the current leadership.
On the 31st, attendees at the Korean Medical Association's emergency temporary delegate general meeting held at the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, held placards while declaring a struggle to block the increase in medical school quotas, respond to the essential medical package, and oppose the Nursing Act. [Photo by Yonhap News]
On the 31st of last month, the KMA held an extraordinary delegate meeting at the KMA Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and conducted a vote on establishing an 'Emergency Response Committee to Block Medical School Quota Increase, Respond to Essential Medical Package, and Oppose the Nursing Act.' The voting results were 53 in favor, 131 against, and 5 abstentions out of 189 voters (total 242 members), resulting in rejection.
The KMA attempted to transition to the ERC amid criticism that the president's team, led by President Lim Hyun-taek, had failed to block the medical school quota increase, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Inside the KMA, a movement of no confidence against President Lim continues. Delegates Jo Byung-wook and Jo Hyun-geun have been collecting signatures from KMA members for a no-confidence petition against President Lim since the 28th of last month. The petition will continue until the 27th, and if more than one-quarter of the members agree, it will be proposed.
Delegates Jo Byung-wook and Jo Hyun-geun criticized, "Since President Lim's term began, the KMA has failed to respond properly," adding, "It has only caused discord between resigning residents and students on leave." They also said, "The shame falls on the members as there are only empty words without any policies or projects, and the aftermath is poorly managed."
At the delegate meeting that day, President Lim was also condemned. Park Dan, Emergency Committee Chair of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), urged President Lim to resign voluntarily, stating, "If he does not quit, he must be removed." He continued, "What is the KMA and President Lim doing representing 140,000 doctors? Forming an emergency committee is never the answer. The KIRA emergency committee will not work with an incompetent president who is only concerned with saving face."
Strong remarks continued at the delegate meeting. KMA delegate Kim Seong-geun said in a statement of struggle, "The president says the medical school quota increase is finalized. Early admissions will start soon, but selections are in December. Do not lower your heads prematurely thinking early admissions confirm the quota; it is not over until it is over." He added, "In a fight, the winner is not the one who strikes first but the one who does not get exhausted."
He further emphasized, "Even university hospitals, which professors have been struggling to maintain, are collapsing starting with emergency medical care. The media is highlighting that an emergency room crisis will occur during the Chuseok holiday." He stressed, "Those responsible for creating this situation must apologize profusely before the public. We must make that happen."
President Lim also said, "The government is demonizing doctors and rushing like an institution heading toward the cliff of medical system collapse." He added, "This struggle is no longer limited to medical school quota increases, essential medical policy packages, or the Nursing Act. It is a fight to protect the last lifeline of the Republic of Korea." President Lim has been on a hunger strike opposing the medical school quota increase and the Nursing Act legislation since the 26th of last month.
Kim Gyo-ung, chair of the KMA delegate council, told doctors with hospital positions and professors, "You must even let go of the idea that doctors must always be by patients' sides." To private practitioners, he encouraged, "This is a time when young doctors need the actions of senior doctors more than anything. You must stand up right now."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
