Welfare Ministry "Regret Over Residents' Indefinite Strike Decision... Not Justified" (Update)

The government proposed several concession plans, but Daejeon Association rejected them... "Return to the medical field"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The government has immediately expressed regret over the Korea Intern Resident Association's (KIRA) decision to continue their indefinite strike in opposition to major medical policies such as the expansion of medical school quotas and the establishment of public medical schools, and has requested that they return to medical practice immediately.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "We deeply regret KIRA's decision announced at 12 noon today to continue the collective strike," adding, "This is an unjust decision that does not consider the lives and safety of the people." They continued, "We sincerely apologize for causing additional worry and inconvenience to the public who are enduring difficult times due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)."

The Ministry explained, "Considering the severe crisis of COVID-19, we have proposed several times to suspend policy implementation and collective strikes until this crisis ends, and to keep all possibilities open for negotiations thereafter."

The government has repeatedly proposed to keep all options open and engage in dialogue regarding major health care policies, including adjustments to medical school quotas, and requested the suspension of collective actions during the dialogue period amid the serious situation of the nationwide resurgence of COVID-19. The government also presented a plan not to unilaterally push forward policies such as notifying medical school quotas.

The Ministry said, "KIRA rejected such agreements, citing difficulty in trusting the government, which led to the collapse of the agreement."

On the 28th, Rep. Han Jeong-ae, Chair of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, met with KIRA to resolve the issue of distrust in the government’s agreement, stating, "We will suspend the promotion of bills related to the expansion of medical school quotas and the establishment of public medical schools until the COVID-19 spread stabilizes, and establish a parliamentary consultative body including the Medical Association, KIRA, and other medical expert groups to keep all possibilities open for discussion."

Furthermore, in response to opinions that trust cannot be established by agreement with the government alone, to ensure the effectiveness of the agreement’s implementation, a promise was made that the broader medical community?including the Council of National University Hospitals, the Council of Private University Medical Centers, the Council of Training Hospitals of Korea, the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Medical Schools, the National Academy of Medicine of Korea, KIRA, and the Korean Medical School and Medical Graduate Student Association?will jointly take responsibility for implementation, the situation was explained.

The Ministry stated, "Nevertheless, we find it difficult to understand the decision by the resident group to continue the collective strike, even overturning the vote result in which the continuation of the strike was rejected in the first vote," adding, "This is an unjust decision that does not consider the lives and safety of the people."

They urged, "We call on them to choose to resolve the issue through dialogue and communication with the government rather than continuing the collective strike, and to immediately return to the medical field to fulfill their duty as doctors protecting the lives and safety of the people amid the severe COVID-19 situation."

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