Resident Representatives Hold 5-Hour Marathon Meeting... "Will Announce Position Soon"

Resident representatives who have taken collective action in opposition to the government's plan to increase medical school admissions discussed future response measures on the 20th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

About 100 representatives from training hospitals nationwide held a marathon meeting for five hours that day but remained silent throughout. Park Dan, president of the Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeon Association), stated, "We will release a statement after confirming with the delegates."

The Daejeon Association held an "Emergency Extraordinary General Assembly of Delegates for 2024" from 12 PM to 5 PM at the Korean Medical Association (KMA) building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Most of them had submitted resignation letters to their hospitals and stopped working. Attendees said, "The Daejeon Association will speak on our behalf and express our position," and "The president of the Daejeon Association will announce the meeting results."

Kim Taek-woo, the emergency committee chairman of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), visited the meeting venue before the Daejeon Association's meeting began that day. Chairman Kim said, "I do not know the details of the Daejeon Association meeting," and added, "I respect the decisions of the resident representatives and will stand with them."

Earlier, residents belonging to the 'Big 5' hospitals submitted resignation letters en masse the day before and stopped providing medical services after 6 AM that day. The Big 5 hospitals are Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. According to an inspection by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of 100 major training hospitals, as of 11 PM the previous day, 6,415 people had submitted resignation letters.

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