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

On the 2nd, as the medical residents' strike continued, residents at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, are urging the complete withdrawal of the four major evil medical policies. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[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 clinical field starting that day, an all-resident meeting will be held due to internal opposition.

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

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

Earlier, Park said in a social media live broadcast the previous afternoon, "The Korean Medical Association (KMA) has blurred the justification for collective action by 'rushing through a signature' with the government and ruling party," and "We have decided to lower the level of protest to stage 1 (residents return, students return, and only one-person protests continue) and to return to the field starting at 7 a.m. on the 7th."

However, within the residents, hardliners have voiced that "the KMA's agreement with the government and ruling party was a hasty agreement excluding the residents who are the main force of the strike," and there are calls for a re-vote to gather the opinions of all residents. It appears that the Daejeonhyup emergency committee postponed the return to work to explain the related situation.

Medical students are also holding out by refusing to take the practical exam of the national medical licensing examination. The day before, the Korean Medical School and Graduate School Student Association (Uidae-hyup) emergency committee announced that they will continue the refusal movement for the national exam.

Cho Seung-hyun, president of Uidae-hyup, said, "We will maintain strong solidarity with the Daejeonhyup emergency committee and continue to discuss medical issues," adding, "Medical school professors will also participate in collective action."

As the residents reverse their decision to return to work and medical students continue to refuse the national exam, confusion in the medical community is expected to intensify. A Seoul National University Hospital official said, "No resident has said they will return starting today." An Asan Medical Center official explained, "We plan to maintain the reduced level of medical services as was the case last week."

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