Doctors’ group to pursue civil, criminal charges against former health-welfare minister, vice minister

As the government-doctor conflict enters a phase of settlement with the return of medical students and trainee doctors, calls for accountability from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration have resurfaced.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA)'s Board of Representatives stated that it would seek civil and criminal liability from former Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong and Second Vice Minister Park Min-soo for their role in pushing forward the policy to increase the number of medical school admissions. The KMA also demanded a public apology.

On Friday, the KMA board of representatives issued a statement outlining its demands for the former health minister and vice minister, stating, “Take responsibility for the medical crisis and immediately apologize to the public.”

The board also called for an investigation into whether Park abused his authority by the Lee Jae Myung administration and demanded that “legal responsibility be held and compensation measures be established.” It also stated that a national investigation into the process by which the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration decided on medical policies is necessary.

he KMA representatives criticized that “the government's unilateral push for medical policies and administrative procedures without consultation led to a nationwide medical shortage,” and that former Vice Minister Park, “as the person in charge of overall operations, has not made any official apology or taken any responsible measures despite being the party who facilitated or encouraged the worsening of the situation.”

This goes beyond a simple administrative mistake and constitutes a serious dereliction of duty regarding the lives and safety of the people; the legal and political responsibility for this must not be avoided, the board pointed out.

Noting that medical students, trainee doctors, and even the incumbent Minister of Health and Welfare, Jeong Eun-kyeong, have issued a public apology, the board criticized that former Minister Cho and Vice Minister Park, who are responsible for the medical crisis, have made no apology and have not received any punishment.

“The push for an unscientific expansion of medical school enrollment, the unrealistic essential medical care policy package, and the excessive administrative orders and threatening measures against trainee doctors remain unimproved,” it said. “The responsibility lies with former Minister Cho and Vice Minister Park.”

It continued, “We will pursue all legal measures, including claims for damages, against those responsible for this crisis,” demanding that the new government immediately investigate the truth behind the medical crisis and work out responsible countermeasures.

On Wednesday, the Chungnam Medical Association also demanded an apology from former Vice Minister Park. In a statement, the provincial doctors’ group called former Vice Minister Park “the person responsible for the unprecedented national policy blunder of increasing the number of medical school enrollment by 2,000” and said that he “must apologize to the people.”