Emergency Room Doctor Roster Posted
Contact Info, Father's Name, School Violence Victim Status Included
"Psycho Tendencies," "Suspected Affair" Defamatory Remarks Also Present
As the doctors' strike prolongs, leading to a shortage of emergency room doctors, a blacklist revealing the real names of doctors on duty has emerged.
According to the government and medical circles on the 9th, a website presumed to be created by active doctors in the form of an archive (information repository) posted the number of staff working in emergency rooms by hospital, along with some of the workers' names, under the title "Emergency Room Collaborators." This site, titled "List of Appreciated Doctors," is updated weekly with information about doctors in medical fields, collected through tips by the operator.
The newly posted list of emergency room doctors includes real names with messages such as "Thank you, Dr. ○○○. Thank you for deciding to stop the illegal strike and stay by the patients' side." It also contains expressions like "According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 'Although there is a shortage of emergency room doctors, emergency medical services are operating normally.' Here is the medical information of workers earning 5.2 million won per day who have greatly helped," and "We believe this will be a great help to nearby regional ambulance teams and citizens in emergency situations."
In a similar format, the real names of military doctors presumed to be dispatched to emergency rooms are also disclosed, along with messages such as "Thank you, doctors, for protecting emergency medical services even while serving in the military." Recently, the government assigned 15 military doctors, including emergency medicine specialists, to hospitals struggling to operate emergency rooms, but the individuals have expressed burdens regarding treatment and have not been working. This site details military doctors and public health doctors who supported or wished to extend their dispatch. The list includes phrases like "Working shifts and striving to normalize the emergency room," and "Among eight, seven were deemed 'useless' by the hospital and returned to local governments without replacements, but this truly appreciated doctor was the only one recognized as useful by the hospital and extended for one more month."
The blacklist extends beyond residents to include medical school professors encouraging returns and full-time doctors filling residents' positions. Furthermore, it is publicly accessible to anyone who knows the address. The posted doctors' personal information includes not only real names but also contact details, alma mater, current romantic partners, father's name, and history of school violence. Malicious comments such as "suspected of infidelity" and "psychopathic tendencies" were also confirmed.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to notify the police about the disclosure of doctors' personal information on the site and request an investigation. A ministry official stated, "This site existed previously, and we have already requested a police investigation," adding, "Since personal information about military doctors working in emergency rooms has been maliciously added, we will inform the police and ask them to consider an investigation."
Meanwhile, due to the prolonged doctors' strike and shortage of emergency room doctors, "round-robin death incidents" are occurring. On the 4th of last month, a 2-year-old girl who collapsed from febrile convulsions was refused transfer by 11 emergency rooms and has yet to regain consciousness. On the 5th, a female university student found in cardiac arrest at a school in Gwangju fell into a critical condition while being transferred to another hospital instead of a nearby university hospital emergency room. Additionally, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu criticized the situation on the 27th of last month, stating, "My father, a Seoul National University College of Medicine graduate, passed away after failing to find an emergency room bed."
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