On the 28th, President-elect Lim Hyun-taek of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) said, “The medical community will not respond to any negotiations until the government cancels the announcement of an increase in medical schools by 2,000 students.”
At the regular general meeting of the Korean Medical Association held at a hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul this morning, President-elect Lim said, “I clearly state my position that only after the government cancels the announcement of an increase in the number of medical students by 2,000 people will our medical community be able to start discussions again from square one.” “Otherwise, we will not move a single step and will not respond to any negotiations.”
He continued, “The government is insisting on increasing the number of medical school students by 2,000, saying it is a medical reform, and is putting Korea on the path to medical ruin. If our medical community patiently accepts everything this time, the date of complete death of Korean medicine will be brought forward that much earlier.” “It is,” he said.
He said, “What we need in this desperate time is united strength,” and added, “We must form a single force like steel.”
On the afternoon of the 27th, President-elect Lim also posted on his social media, “The Korean Medical Association is very angry at the Ministry of Health and Welfare for treating (medical school) professors like criminals and threatening them, and if even a single hair of the professors is touched, 140,000 doctors and medical students will unite as one.” “I make it clear that we will come together and fight with all our might,” he posted.
He said, “If the government again makes low-level threats against professors that would be compared to local thugs, the speaker and the government will be held severely responsible, and we clearly warn that the consequences will lie entirely with the person making the threat and the government.” “I hope that we will no longer undermine the values of Korea’s liberal democracy by suppressing inhumane doctors and pursuing unreasonable and unreasonable policies,” he said.
Meanwhile, President-elect Lim’s term as president of the Korean Medical Association begins on the 1st of next month.
