Five Current and Former KMA Leaders Summoned by Police on 'Collective Action Teacher Allegations'... "Voluntary Resignation of Residents"

Kim Taek-woo, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Korea Medical Association (KMA), along with three KMA leaders who were accused of instigating collective action by resident doctors, appeared at the police station on the 12th. With this, the police have completed summoning all five current and former KMA executives reported by the government. However, since they deny the charges, there is a possibility of additional summons.

On the 12th, Park Myungha, Chairman of the Organizational Strengthening Committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) Emergency Response Committee (left), and Kim Taekwoo, Chairman of the KMA Emergency Response Committee, are entering the Public Crime Investigation Unit building in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

At around 9:45 a.m. that day, Kim, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman, and Park Myung-ha, the Committee’s Organization Strengthening Chairman, appeared at the Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and told reporters, "The voluntary resignation of resident doctor juniors was not incited or instigated by anyone," adding, "It is a protest based on conscience and expert knowledge against a situation that jeopardizes the century-long future of medical care."

They also said, "We hope the government will come to the negotiation table for constructive policy even now," and added, "We will sincerely cooperate with the investigation according to our conscience."

Earlier, at around 9:30 a.m., Lim Hyun-taek, President of the Korean Pediatric Society, who also appeared at the police station, stated, "The resignation of resident doctors is an exercise of the free right to choose a profession as citizens in a liberal democratic society," and claimed, "The government is issuing coercive work commencement orders to young people who want to quit and treating them like criminals."

This summons followed the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s report on the 27th of last month, accusing five current and former KMA executives of violating the Medical Service Act, obstruction of business under the Criminal Act, instigation, and aiding and abetting to the National Police Agency. Joo Su-ho, the KMA Emergency Response Committee’s Public Relations Chairman, completed his investigation on the 6th, and Roh Hwan-gyu, former KMA president, finished his on the 9th.

The police reportedly focused their investigation on whether these individuals actually issued instructions to resident doctors to strike and instigated the collective action. After undergoing intense interrogations lasting 10 and 11 hours respectively, former President Roh and Chairman Joo denied the charges of instigating the collective resignation, blaming the government for the resident doctors’ withdrawal.

Meanwhile, the police are also investigating an incident in which a document ordering the creation of a blacklist of resident doctors under the name of the KMA president was circulated online. The police conducted a search and seizure at the internet site DC Inside, where the document was posted, the previous day. The KMA Emergency Response Committee claimed that the document was false and fabricated, and on the previous afternoon, filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office against the author for forgery of private documents and defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

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