The Korean Society of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease: "Woo Bong-sik, who caused the 'Brunch Open Run' controversy, must resign"

"Old-fashioned mindset... Current pediatric medical infrastructure collapse"

The Korean Pediatric Society (hereinafter referred to as the Pediatric Society) recently called for the resignation of Woo Bong-sik, director of the Medical Policy Research Institute of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), who sparked controversy by claiming that "young mothers rush to pediatric clinics early to finish their appointments and enjoy brunch time with friends."

This is a pediatric and adolescent department at a university hospital in Daegu and is not directly related to the content of the article.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 8th, the Pediatric Society issued a statement demanding Woo's resignation under the name of President Lim Hyun-taek. The Pediatric Society said, "Parents have no choice but to carry their sick children who were ill all night and run to the remaining clinics and hospitals," adding, "After receiving difficult treatment, they leave their children with grandparents or daycare centers and reluctantly head to work."

They continued, "Woo's remarks show a complete lack of understanding of childcare and are an extremely old-fashioned way of thinking," criticizing, "Without properly grasping or analyzing the situation in the medical field, Woo Bong-sik, who caused social controversy and lost public trust in doctors, should resign immediately."

The Pediatric Society also explained, "Currently, the pediatric and adolescent medical infrastructure, from local clinics to general hospitals and tertiary hospitals, has thoroughly collapsed," attributing this to "an income structure relying solely on consultation fees that are ridiculously low compared to other countries, low birth rates, and COVID-19."

They further elaborated, "Pediatricians who used to receive salaries have lost places to work, and medical students and interns who think there is no future in this specialty do not choose pediatrics as their major."

According to the results announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare the previous day for the first half of 2024 resident recruitment at 140 training hospitals, only 53 out of 205 pediatric residency slots were filled. The application rate was 25.9%, ranking last among all specialties.

The Pediatric Society also referred to the Swedish case that introduced a co-parenting system, pointing out, "As the director of the Medical Policy Research Institute, he should have demanded the government to implement such a system."

Earlier, Director Woo sparked controversy with an editorial published in the KMA's quarterly journal 'Medical Policy Forum.' Woo diagnosed that "the fundamental cause of the pediatric clinic rush is the difficulty in maintaining clinics due to the declining pediatric population caused by low birth rates," but also pointed out that malicious rumors spread by some mothers on mom cafes (parenting cafes) and working mothers who bring patients in the morning are causes of the 'open run.'

He added, "Sometimes young mothers finish their appointments early and send their children to daycare centers, then rush to pediatric clinics at opening time to enjoy brunch time with friends," claiming, "'They only run during pediatric clinic opening times' and 'stop during the daytime,'" which intensified the controversy.

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