KMA Emergency Committee: "Clarify the Circumstances of the 'Punish Residents' Phrase and Demand Yoon's Resignation"

"Sajik Residents Do Not Strike or Leave Medical Sites"
"Next Year's Medical School Admissions Should Be Suspended to Prevent Medical Education Collapse"

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) Emergency Response Committee demanded an explanation of the process by which the phrase 'punishment of striking residents' was included in the martial law command's proclamation along with the call for President Yoon Seok-yeol's resignation.

On the 5th, Park Hyung-wook, chairman of the KMA Emergency Response Committee, held a press conference at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and announced that this decision was made at the committee meeting the previous day. The resolutions include ▲demanding the president's resignation ▲calling for accountability of the proclamation's author ▲suspension of medical school admissions next year.

Chairman Park said, "Is 'punishment' a word that can be used toward the public?" He added, "President Yoon Seok-yeol baselessly equated residents and medical personnel with subversive forces denying the liberal democratic system based on delusions."

He further emphasized that the residents who resigned are not medical personnel who went on strike or abandoned medical sites. He stated, "Even if following the government's illegal law enforcement, the residents' resignations were completed five months ago, and now the resigned residents have either found employment at other medical institutions or are engaged in other work," and questioned, "Who exactly went on strike or abandoned medical sites?"

Regarding martial law, he said, "It is questionable whether the current situation qualifies as a national emergency as defined by the constitution, and whether it was properly discussed at the State Council meeting," and claimed, "The president declared martial law without any measures based on delusions."

He added, "The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. A president who acts as if he is a king must be removed."

Previously, Article 5 of the Martial Law Command's Proclamation No. 1, announced on the 3rd, stated, "All medical personnel, including residents who are on strike or have abandoned medical sites, must return to their duties within 48 hours and work diligently; violations will be punished under the Martial Law Act."