Medical Groups' Collective Actions Continue... Korean Medical Association Announces Rally on the 15th

by Kim Bokyung

Published 11 Feb.2024 22:32(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Medical organizations opposing the government's plan to increase medical school admissions are engaging in collective actions one after another.

According to the medical community on the 11th, 16 city and provincial medical associations under the Korea Medical Association (KMA) plan to hold rallies across the country on the 15th to protest the government's increase in medical school quotas.

Before the Lunar New Year holiday, on the 7th, the KMA held an extraordinary general assembly and decided to switch to an emergency response committee system, discussing plans for collective action. The chairman of the emergency response committee leading the KMA's collective action is Kim Taek-woo, president of the Gangwon Medical Association.

The rally of the 16 city and provincial medical associations nationwide on the 15th will be the first collective action since the KMA transitioned to the emergency response committee system. Although the exact scale of participation is unknown, it is reported that doctors will join simultaneously in various locations across the country.

Following the rally on the 15th, the KMA emergency response committee is also considering holding a nationwide doctors' representatives meeting in Seoul on the 17th.

Emergency medicine specialists have also formed an emergency response committee and expressed their intention to join the collective action.

The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine announced the formation of the emergency response committee on the same day, demanding, "Stop punishing doctors harshly and decisively as if eradicating criminals," and urged, "Recognize us as public health and medical experts and engage in dialogue and cooperation."