Cracks emerge in trainee doctors’ strike as hospital chapters urge negotiated return

The rift among resigned doctors has been widening since the new government took office.

A day after Park Dan, head of the emergency committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), said it was not the right time for resigned trainee doctors to return, calls for negotiations to resume practice emerged. “A new person should come forward,” they said. Eventually, Park stepped down on Tuesday.

After Park announced his resignation, KIRA’s chapters at large hospitals -- Korea University (KU) Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Severance Hospital -- issued a statement asking the government to “work together to normalize medical care.”

They also called for a review of the essential healthcare policy package and healthcare reform implementation plan promoted by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, an expansion and institutionalization of the proportion of doctors in healthcare governance, and an improvement of the poor training environment and a guarantee of continuity of training.

“Even today, healthcare is collapsing,” they said. "The Lee Jae Myung government should not follow in the footsteps of its predecessor. We want to rebuild the broken medical system and no longer treat doctors as targets for orders and punishment. We are ready to find answers with the government.”

Three of the  nation's five largest hospitals, home to about a quarter of all trainee doctors, and KU Medicine, which has the next largest number of junior doctors, have called for talks to resume training. Some doctors have held discussions of returning to training sites, which have spread to the KIRA’s chapters at the so-called Big Five hospitals.

Representatives from Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Severance Hospital emphasized the need for dialogue to resolve the government-doctor conflicts. “It makes no sense to maintain a united front artificially,” Kim Dong-sun of Seoul National University Hospital, Han Sung-jon of Asan Medical Center, and Kim Eun-sik of Severance Hospital said in a joint interview with the Dong-A Ilbo, a vernacular daily, adding that “returning to work is up to individual doctors.”

They also criticized Park for being dogmatic. "You need to communicate a lot to represent other people's opinions. But there was a lack of communication," Han said. Kim Eun-sik said, “Park has been acting on his opinion without sufficient communication and consultation. He does not sufficiently represent the opinions of trainee doctors. A new person who can replace him should step forward."

The Seoul National University Hospital's trainee doctors’ council reportedly stated on the same day that “it is time for a diplomat who can resolve the situation amicably, not a general who will advance in the war.”

Park also cited their interviews when announcing his resignation. Park is also vice chairperson of the Korean Medical Association.