Strike → Return → Collapse → Return... Daejeonhyeop Flips 3 Times in 5 Days

New Emergency Committee Faces Backlash Over Return to Work... Will Collective Strike Resume?

On the 8th, medical staff were seen moving at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul, as residents who had continued an indefinite collective strike began returning to work. The Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) announced that following an online meeting held on the 7th with all residents, they decided to end the collective strike and return to the hospital. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Medical residents have been repeatedly reversing their stance on whether to postpone their strike for the fifth consecutive day. As conflicts arise within the residents over continuing collective action, the medical community appears to be experiencing confusion.

According to the medical community on the 8th, the newly formed Emergency Committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) is opposing the previous emergency committee’s decision for residents to return to work.

The residents first expressed their position regarding collective action after the agreement between the government, ruling party, and the medical community on the 4th. At that time, Park Ji-hyun, the Emergency Committee Chair of KIRA, expressed dissatisfaction on Twitter, saying, "I woke up to a press release I didn’t know about. Was the chairperson bypassed, or is the agreement proceeding without me?" The Young Doctors Emergency Committee also notified members on the same day that "no agreement has been finalized yet, and the strike and collective action will continue."

However, from the evening of the 5th to the early morning of the 6th, during a general assembly of delegates, a decision was made to temporarily postpone collective action, which was officially confirmed on the afternoon of the 6th. Chair Park stated, "With the signing of the agreement between the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the government and ruling party, it has become difficult to maintain the current collective action (strike)." He added, "We have decided to lower the level of struggle to stage 1 (residents and students return to work, only one-person protests continue) and to return to the field starting at 7 a.m. on the 7th."

Upon hearing the news of the return, medical students and some residents strongly opposed it. During the delegate meeting, some medical students and university hospital professors who opposed stopping the strike rushed to the scene, leading to scuffles. As medical students from different schools and residents from various hospitals voiced differing opinions and protests surged, the residents’ return decided by KIRA was eventually nullified.

However, the residents changed their stance again the next day, the 7th, stating, "Considering various circumstances, we will lower the collective action to stage 1 starting at 7 a.m. on Tuesday the 8th." Stage 1 collective action means all residents return to work, but each hospital’s emergency committee remains in place.

They also stated that if medical students who refused to take the national exam are not remedied, the level of collective action could be intensified. Chair Park said, "If the students are not allowed to retake the exam within two weeks or if the exam is not postponed as they wish, we will strengthen the collective action."

From the morning of that day, residents began returning to clinical sites one after another. Major tertiary hospitals such as Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Korea University Medical Center, and Severance Hospital prepared to welcome returning residents by mandating COVID-19 testing.

The new emergency committee plans to hold a delegate meeting that day to discuss future collective activities. The new committee declared a hardline stance, stating, "We object to the collective action guidelines that have not sufficiently reflected the opinions of all 16,000 residents nationwide."

Accordingly, if the emergency committee decides to continue the strike, there is a possibility that residents who had returned to work may resume collective sick leave. However, since the return to work was decided by overall votes at each hospital, it is uncertain whether this will be reversed. It is reported that the emergency committee is also considering the possibility that the return to work may be overturned.

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