"Unfair Decision Process in Strike Enforcement"... Residents' Internal Conflict Deepens

Some Residents Say "Opinion Gathering Was Hasty" vs Emergency Committee Says "Not an Unreasonable Re-vote"

On the 30th, the Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association decided to continue the collective strike. Information about the medical staff strike is being provided in front of the emergency room at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] As the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) is pushing forward with a strike opposing the government's major medical policies such as expanding the number of medical residents and establishing public medical schools, internal conflicts among residents are intensifying as some residents express opposition to the strike decision process, citing unfairness. On the 30th, the KIRA Emergency Response Committee forced two rounds of voting and decided to continue the indefinite general strike, but internal dissatisfaction surged over the failure to reflect opposing opinions during this process, leading to a situation where several emergency response committee members resigned one after another. The hardliners advocating for continuing the strike and the moderates favoring compromise are clashing, deepening the internal conflict among residents.

◆ "Voices to stop the strike were not reflected... only the hardliners' stance" = On the 31st, a resident who introduced himself as a resident told Asia Economy, "During the process where KIRA refused to accept the medical community's consensus proposal, the voices calling for 'stopping the strike' were not properly reflected." He claimed, "Although the majority of the emergency response committee wanted to stop the strike for the sake of public health and the overall benefit of residents according to the compromise proposal, this opinion was ignored at the meeting held the previous day, and the strike was pushed through by a hasty resolution at the Temporary National Representatives Emergency Response Committee (representatives meeting)." It is known that about ten key figures in the emergency response committee who judged they could not follow the KIRA leadership resigned during this process. The resident opposed, saying, "The minutes of how the emergency response committee's decision-making proceeded have not been disclosed," and "There is concern that medical students will suffer damage, including residents who have been reported to the government, with the national medical licensing exam just one day away."

On the previous day, some residents who introduced themselves as interns and residents also sent a press release to the press corps, stating, "Although the majority of the KIRA emergency response committee on the 29th advocated stopping the strike according to the medical community's compromise proposal, KIRA President Park Ji-hyun bypassed the majority opinion of the emergency response committee, held a representatives meeting, which was an unnecessary step in the decision-making process, and ultimately decided to continue the strike."

In the vote held the previous day to confirm whether to stop or continue the residents' strike, the KIRA emergency response committee failed to obtain the majority consent and the motion was rejected, but after a re-vote, they decided to proceed with the collective strike. In the first vote, 96 out of 193 voting members chose to continue the strike, but it was rejected due to not meeting the quorum. In the subsequent re-vote, 134 out of 186 voted to continue the strike, deciding to push forward with the strike.

Some residents raised concerns that they had no choice but to rely on unofficial information spread through social networking services (SNS) without having sufficient information about the negotiation process. They criticized the executive committee, saying, "In a desperate situation, the sentiment of 'we must unite' was overheated, and the opinion gathering was hastily done within 30 minutes to 3 hours at most." The Association of Private University Medical Centers and the Association of Private University Hospitals also urged the strike to be stopped, stating, "The residents' strike should proceed with efforts to minimize patient harm."

◆ "Neither side exceeded the majority, so the strike continuation was decided" = In response to the internal conflict among residents, KIRA immediately issued a clarification. The KIRA emergency response committee stated, "The agenda of the first vote was not about continuing the collective action as reported by the media," but rather "to adopt the agreement and submit the proposal to the 'Special Committee for Fighting the Four Major Evils in the Medical Community (Special Committee)' to 'stop' the collective action," and that 96 opposed this agenda," they rebutted. They argued that the agenda was discarded because neither side exceeded the majority during the question of whether to stop the collective action, and it was not rejected because there were many opinions to stop the strike. The emergency response committee explained, "The motion to maintain the strike was rejected because the approval did not reach half, and claims by some residents and the government that the re-vote was forced are not true."

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