Reasons such as 'Incompetence', 'Media Response Issues', and 'Autocratic Administration'
A survey revealed that over 85% of the members of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) do not trust KMA President Im Hyun-taek.
According to Cho Byung-wook, a delegate of the KMA General Assembly, the survey conducted from August 28 to September 27 showed that among 1,982 respondents, 85.2% agreed on the necessity of a vote of no confidence against President Im.
The reasons for distrust in President Im were as follows: 'No specific opinion' received the highest number of votes at 923, followed by 'Incompetence' with 181 votes, 'Issues with media response' 143 votes, 'Autocratic management' 138 votes, 'Need for alternative leadership' 132 votes, 'Support for former residents and students on leave' 52 votes, 'Policy response issues' 51 votes, and 'Problems with executive team composition' 41 votes.
According to the survey organizers, many opinions held that President Im’s failure to prevent the enactment of the Nursing Act was due to his incompetence, which led to the infringement of members’ rights, thus warranting a vote of no confidence. There were also many opinions that his remarks on Facebook were awkward and inappropriate for his position.
Previously, after a guilty verdict was issued against a doctor in his 60s for professional negligence causing injury, President Im wrote, "There is no patient important enough to risk going to prison," and he criticized the judge who issued the guilty verdict by saying, "Is this woman sane?" which sparked controversy.
Furthermore, when a partial amendment to the Medical Service Act Enforcement Rules was announced to allow foreign medical license holders to practice medicine domestically, he attached an article about a Somali medical school graduation ceremony and wrote "Coming soon," which was criticized as a racist remark.
Meanwhile, those who supported President Im (293 people) opposed the vote of no confidence, citing reasons such as "Now is the time to unite."
The survey was conducted to formally petition for a vote of no confidence against President Im, but the submission of the no-confidence motion failed as it did not meet the required threshold of one-quarter of all eligible voting members (approximately 14,500 people). According to the KMA bylaws, a no-confidence motion against the president can be proposed if at least one-quarter of members with voting rights or one-third of the seated delegates initiate it. Based on the 58,027 eligible voters in the March presidential election, about 14,500 members must agree for the motion to be proposed.
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