Residents to Re-discuss Return at Today's (7th) Afternoon Meeting

Due to the physical actions of residents opposing the government agreement, Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, who could not sign the agreement with Choi Dae-jip, President of the Korean Medical Association, is leaving the Korea Health Promotion Institute on Toegye-ro, Seoul, the venue of the agreement, on the 4th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeonhyup) will decide on July 7 whether to return to medical practice. Although it was initially reported that the residents would stop their collective strike and return to the medical field starting that day, an internal backlash has led to a general meeting for all residents being held on the same day.

Park Ji-hyun, the emergency committee chairperson of Daejeonhyup, announced in an internal notice the day before, "We will not return tomorrow (the 7th) and will maintain the current status," adding, "At 1 p.m. on the 7th, we will hold an online general meeting for all residents and reset the timing of returning to work to after Monday."

As the residents refuse to return to medical practice, the medical service blackout that began on the 21st of last month has entered its 18th day today. Expectations arose that the situation would normalize starting today after the emergency committee of Daejeonhyup decided to postpone collective action the day before.

However, within the residents, hardliners have voiced that "the agreement between the Korean Medical Association, the government, and the ruling party is a hasty agreement excluding the residents who were the main force of the strike," and there are calls for a re-vote to gather the opinions of all residents. As a result, it appears that the emergency committee of Daejeonhyup postponed the return to work to explain the related situation.

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