The International Labor Organization (ILO) said it has intervened with the Korean government regarding Seoul’s order for trainee doctors to start work and called for it to resolve the issue through social dialogue.
In response, the government said it would sincerely explain its position to the international agency.
According to the medical community, the ILO sent a letter to the legal representative of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) on Thursday, responding to the group’s renewed request for an intervention by the international agency.
On March 15, 26 resigned trainee doctors, including Park Dan, head of the emergency committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), aided by Doctors for the Future, requested again the ILO's intervention in the government's work commencement order.
Park and other trainee doctors initially requested the ILO’s intervention on March 11, claiming that the work commencement order violated ILO Convention No. 29 on the prohibition of forced labor. Two days later, the ILO closed the case on the grounds that KIRA was unqualified to make such a request. However, the ILO recognized KIRA’s qualification for requesting its intervention this time.
"The ILO has intervened with the government authorities regarding the issues you have raised and called for their resolution through social dialogue, which we understand to be related to healthcare reform necessitated by demographic change,” the ILO responded. "In accordance with the procedures in force, any information provided by the government in relation to these matters will be transmitted to you for your information.”
In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor issued a press release stating that it would vigorously defend its view that the order to start work is a legitimate measure to protect people’s lives and falls under an exception to the ILO convention.
"Unlike the ILO's previous decision, which rejected KIRA’s request because the trainee doctors group was not qualified to request intervention, the international agency seems to have made a positive conclusion this time around, accepting KIRA’s claim that it is an organization that represents trainee doctors’ professional interests,” the ministry said.
However, the ministry noted that the request did not include a judgment on the government's actions regarding ILO Convention 29 on Forced and Compulsory Labor.
"Considering that the intervention is not a formal procedure, we will explain in good faith that we are promoting dialogue with trainee doctors and complying with Convention 29," the ministry said.
"It is difficult to know whether the ILO has ever accepted a request for intervention from a non-union organization in Korea before," a ministry official said in a telephone interview with Korea Biomedical Review on Friday. "However, we understand that KIRA claimed it is an organization that represents the interests of (trainee doctors) regarding their working conditions and that the ILO recognized this in this individual case."
If the government writes a response and notifies the ILO, the ILO will forward the response to KIRA. If KIRA raises an objection and requests the ILO to intervene again, the process can be started again. It's up to KIRA to decide, the official added.