Yim Hyun-taek Elected New President of Korean Medical Association... Also Detained at Presidential Livelihood Debate (Comprehensive)

Hardliners Who Have Strongly Criticized the Government

Im Hyeon-taek, president of the Korean Society of Pediatrics, was elected as the 42nd president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA). With the new president decided, there is a possibility that the medical community's confrontation with the government will intensify.

On the 12th, Im Hyun-taek, the newly appointed president of the Korea Medical Association, who was summoned to the Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on charges including obstruction of business and aiding violation of the Medical Service Act, is reading a statement before entering the Public Crime Investigation Unit building in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

According to the KMA on the 26th, Im Hyeon-taek secured 21,646 votes (65.43%) out of a total of 30,384 valid votes in the runoff election against candidate Joo Su-ho, confirming his victory. Candidate Joo Su-ho received 11,438 votes (34.57%). The term of office will be three years starting from May 1.

In the first round of voting held from the 20th to the 22nd, five candidates ran, but since no candidate received a majority, the top two candidates advanced to the runoff. In the first round, candidate Im received 35.72% of the valid votes, ahead of candidate Joo who received 29.23%.

The newly elected president Im is a hardliner who has strongly criticized the government with harsh expressions during the medical-government conflict. On the 20th, when the government announced the medical school quotas by university, he issued a statement saying, "Doctors will fight to the end to protect essential medical care from the fascist Yoon Seok-yeol government." On the 1st of last month, he was taken into police custody for refusing to leave after a scuffle with presidential security officers at a medical reform public discussion event hosted by President Yoon Seok-yeol at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

Candidate Im highlighted a verbal slip by Park Min-su, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as the 'Uisae' controversy. Minister Cho Kyu-hong and Vice Minister Park were reported to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights.

On the 1st of last month, he was also sent to the prosecution for refusing to comply with a request by presidential security officers to move his seat at the public discussion hosted by the president at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital in Seongnam.

In 2016, he was prosecuted for receiving about 160 million won in donations into his personal account after posting a sponsorship message on an online community exclusively for pediatricians. The court suspended the sentence and imposed a fine of 2 million won.

He has consistently maintained a position that he cannot accept the increase in medical school quotas. Citing the decline in birth rates, President Im argued, "In Korea, medical accessibility is so good that there are numerous clinics and hospitals run by specialists on every street corner, so the medical school quota should rather be reduced by 500 to 1,000 students compared to now." Regarding the possibility of negotiations with the government, he set conditions including "the dismissal of Park Min-su, vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who is responsible for this situation, an apology from the president, and the cancellation of the nomination of Ahn Sang-hoon, former social secretary of the presidential office, who caused this situation."

Meanwhile, with the new president decided, there is an expectation that collective action by the medical community will intensify. On the 19th, Kim Kang-hyun, spokesperson for the KMA emergency committee, responded to reporters' questions about plans for a vote among all members for collective action at a regular briefing held at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, saying, "It is still under discussion and nothing has been definitively decided," and added, "The decision on a general strike will be made by the new president, the emergency committee chairperson, and several executives gathering the members' opinions."

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