12,000 Korean doctors rally against government in Yeouido

Korean physicians, expressing anger against the government’s push to increase medical school seats, held a nationwide rally on Tuesday afternoon in Yeouido, Seoul, despite the sweltering heat. 

The Korean Medical Association (KMA), a group of about 140,000 members, estimated the number of participants of the rally to be about 40,000, while police said the number was about 12,000.  

"The government is treating resigned trainee doctors who have given up on their future as not only criminals but runaway slaves and trying to capture them again and force them to work," said Lim Hyun-taek, president of the KMA. "We must respect and listen to the voices of doctors and all doctors in this country as professionals who save lives, not as slaves."

"We will continue to fight until this tyrannical government treats doctors, including specialists, as professionals and life-savers," Lim said, adding, "We can do it. I will lead the way."

"As chairman, I would like to emphasize that the path that all physician members take together is more valuable and precious," said Kim Kyo-woong, chairman of the KMA’s representative council. "It is time for medical students, trainee doctors, medical professors, and practicing physicians to take the same path. Now is the time to take action."

“We are leaving our offices and shouting at the top of our lungs for one reason, and it's loud and clear: Defend normal medical education,” Kim went on to say.

“Together, we can accelerate the return to normalized healthcare, normalized medical education, which is what we've been longing for.”

Hwang Kyu-seok, chairman of the Seoul Medical Association, called for public support in a solidarity speech. 

"The duty to protect people's lives lies with the Korean government, not doctors. The final victim of the collapsing healthcare system is the people," he said, adding, "140,000 doctors are here to save the dying healthcare system."

Hwang appealed to the public to "join us to stop the government's medical and educational agrarian agenda and normalize healthcare to protect the world's best healthcare system."

Dr. Park Hyung-wook, vice president of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, criticized the government's plan for an increase in medical school seats was made without evidence or discussion.

It was a government lie that there would be no decline in the quality of medical education, he added. 

Kim Chang-soo, president of the National Association of Medical School Professors, has vowed to "vigorously fight" with the KMA to stop the government's attempt to change medical education.

Kim said, "More medical school seats will never save vital care. Scientific facts prove this. We express our strong regret and resistance to the government, which ignores and neglects this and misleads the public by disguising the medical farms in the name of healthcare reform."

Ahn Seok-gyun, chairman of Yonsei University College of Medicine's emergency response committee, demanded that the government stop intimidating doctors and medical students and "take responsibility for its wrong policies.”

"We professors thought it was appropriate to wait for the government to resolve the situation and silently defend our institutions, but we can no longer rely on the government to make things better," Ahn said.

"We have to fight hard for Korean healthcare, for doctors who are just starting out in the medical profession, for junior doctors who entered medical school without knowing anything," Ahn said.

The government should take responsibility for the consequences of its misguided policies, he added.