Government cancels headquarters briefing due to legislative conflict
Unification of positions centered on the medical community and the medical association
Sajik’s trainees sue the second deputy minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Gyu-hong is chairing a meeting of the Central Headquarters for Security and Disaster Countermeasures for Doctors’ Collective Action, held at the Sejong Government Complex on the morning of the 15th. [사진 출처 = 연합뉴스]
Even after the general elections, the conflict over legislation is deepening as the government has not expressed any particular position on medical reform, such as increasing the number of medical schools. About 1,300 medical residents plan to sue Park Min-soo, second vice minister of health and welfare, on charges of abuse of power and other charges.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, on the 15th, the government canceled the briefing of the “Central Headquarters for Countermeasures and Security Countermeasures” of the doctors’ collective action scheduled for this morning the previous afternoon.
In the midst of the healthcare vacuum crisis, the government announced the need for medical reform through briefings by the Disaster and Security Countermeasures Headquarters and the Central Incident Control Headquarters (Heavy Response Headquarters), but stopped the briefings on the 9th, the day before the 22nd National Assembly election.
The government was expected to resume briefings that day, after the general election, and reveal the direction of medical reform, but the program was suddenly cancelled. An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare explained: “The briefing was canceled because there were not many new agendas or anything new to say.”
While the government remains silent, the medical community, assessed as divided, focuses on unifying its positions centered on the Korean Medical Association. In a briefing after a meeting the day before, the medical association’s emergency response committee said: “All doctors are united around the medical association and speak with one voice.”
The emergency committee emphasized: “The consistent position of the medical association, medical students and residents is that the only request of the medical groups is to rediscuss the original point of increasing the number of medical schools,” and he added: “The emergency committee will undertake to carry forward the position of the residents and students to the end.”
Amid the ongoing conflict between the government and the medical community over a plan to increase the number of medical school students, a patient was transferred from a large hospital in Seoul on the 14th. [사진 출처 = 연합뉴스]
Today, 1,325 Sajik medical students plan to sue Park Min-soo, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights. They explained: “We have suffered damage from various policies due to the government’s implementation of the policy to expand the number of medical school students.”
Additionally, as group actions by medical students, such as taking a leave of absence, continue, about 80% of medical schools nationwide will resume classes later this week to prevent students from repeating en masse.
According to the Ministry of Education, ▲ Kwandong Catholic University ▲ Catholic University ▲ Konkuk University Branch ▲ Konyang University ▲ Gyeongsang National University ▲ Keimyung University ▲ Dankook (Cheonan) University ▲ Daegu Catholic University ▲ University of Dong-A ▲ Pusan National University ▲ Sungkyunkwan University ▲ Yonsei University Branch ▲ Ulsan University ▲ Wonkwang University ▲ Jeonnam ▲ On this day, 16 medical schools, including Chosun University, begin the semester.
Schools that have already started or resumed classes after a break include: ▲ Gachon University ▲ Kyungpook National University ▲ Kyung Hee University ▲ Korea University ▲ Dongguk University branch ▲ Seoul National University ▲ Yonsei University ▲ Yeungnam University ▲ Ewha Womans University ▲ Inje University ▲ Chonbuk National University ▲ Jeju National University ▲ Chungnam National University ▲ Chungbuk National University ▲ Hallym University 16 schools including Hanyang University.
Meanwhile, Kim Taek-woo, chairman of the emergency committee of the Korean Medical Association, and former chairman of the emergency committee of the Organizational Strengthening Committee Park Myeong-ha, who were subject to an administrative order for suspension of their license on charges of inciting class action among physicians, will have their medical licenses suspended for three months from today.
In this regard, the emergency committee said: “The request to suspend the execution of the license suspension was rejected, so we appealed to the higher court” and urged: “Please cancel the administrative order.”
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