Government and Medical Community Fail to Find Common Ground... "Will Burn Licenses in Front of the Blue House"

President Choi Dae-jip of the Medical Association holds a press conference opposing the expansion of medical school quotas in front of the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Korean Medical Association strongly opposed the government's signs of issuing a medical service commencement order ahead of the general strike scheduled for the 14th, stating they would "burn their medical licenses."

According to the hospital industry on the 13th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has provided guidelines to local governments to issue a 'medical service commencement order' if the closure rate of medical institutions in the region exceeds 30%.

Choi Dae-jip, president of the Korean Medical Association, posted on Facebook the day before, "Threats are being made to issue work commencement orders to medical institutions ahead of the strike and to impose a 14-day suspension of work or criminal charges if violated," adding, "If they continue to enforce this, we will respond head-on."

He also said, "The government's legal basis for issuing such orders to medical institutions is Article 59 of the Medical Service Act," and "Through this struggle, we will also abolish this evil law that denies medical professionals' right to collective action."

According to Article 59 of the Medical Service Act, the Minister of Health and Welfare or the mayor/governor of a city or province may issue necessary guidance and orders to medical institutions or medical personnel if necessary for health and medical policy or if there is a significant risk or occurrence of harm to public health. If the medical institution does not comply with the order under Article 59, the government may impose a 15-day suspension of work based on the Medical-Related Administrative Disposition Regulations. The '14-day suspension of work' mentioned by President Choi on Facebook appears to be a misunderstanding of some details.

President Choi also stated that if a medical institution receives a suspension order for not complying with the work commencement order, they will respond with collective action. He said, "If even a single medical institution is suspended, all 130,000 members will gather their medical licenses and burn them in front of the Blue House," and "During the suspension period of the affected medical institution, all 130,000 doctor members will suspend their work."

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo is scheduled to issue a public statement this morning regarding the medical community's collective strike plan. In the statement, Minister Park is expected to express concern about the medical service gaps that the collective strike may cause and urge resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.