[From the Scene] Day of Rage: Doctors resist pressure to bend
Expressing frustration and anger at the South Korean government’s recent decision to increase the annual medical school quota by 2,000 starting in 2025, tens of thousands of doctors, interns, residents and medical students walked the picket line Sunday afternoon to urge a reversal of the planned hike.
Chants of “Let’s fight together, let’s win together” reverberated through the crowd, reflecting determination even as the government has issued repeated warnings that trainee doctors could face legal penalties if they refuse return-to-work orders.
The demonstration marked the first large-scale rally in Seoul to include all members of the Korean Medical Association, the country’s largest doctors’ group, with some 140,000 members and students from across the country in attendance.
It was also the first rally of its kind after the government filed a criminal complaint against five former and incumbent KMA executives, as well as the first following junior doctors’ refusal to end their collective strike on the last day of the government’s ultimatum on Thursday.
Both sides show little sign of letting up, despite deepening medical disruptions and patient groups’ relentless appeals.
On Sunday afternoon, thousands of people from every corner of the country, including Jeju Island, amassed in Yeouido Hangang Park in western Seoul, expressing their rage and unity as the government continued to up the ante against the medical circle’s collective actions.
Some 40,000 people were thought to have participated in the rally, according to the KMA, while police estimated the figure to be between 8,500 and 9,000.
Firmly clinging to their representative flags, doctors from 16 medical associations from 16 cities and provinces went to the front line to unleash pent-up fury, encouraging their peers to chant along.
“The strike that began with trainee doctors and medical students is not only aimed at safeguarding the future health care environment, but also stands for doctors’ struggle to protect public health,” Kim Taek-woo, who heads the emergency committee of the KMA, said in opening the demonstration in a speech.
“If the government shuts its eyes to doctors’ efforts and, instead, tries to suppress them, (the government) will face strong public resistance,” Kim warned, as participants waved signs and cheered.
Lee Jong-keun, acting president of the KMA, took the microphone to express doctors’ strong determination to not retreat even a single step.
“The medical community has no place to back off anymore. We will not stand by and watch the undemocratic attitude of the government, and we will not accept the current situation.”
After the two speeches, participants shouted, “Unjustified medical oppression. Doctors are also citizens,” referring to the government’s recent decision to suspend trainee doctors’ licenses and press criminal charges against those who refused to return to work by Thursday last week.
The slogan also alluded to police raids on the homes and offices of KMA officials on Friday. The KMA officials are suspected of encouraging trainee doctors’ collective resignations and abetting the strike.
In the hope that their voices would be heard, protestors shouted in unison, holding red and blue cutouts emblazoned with the words: “Rash expansion of medical schools leads to the downfall of quality health care.”
The rally, however, was at times interrupted by individual counterprotesters, who chimed in at the event to lambast doctors for putting their grievances above patients’ health and care.
Despite a lack of public support, the country’s major doctors’ lobby group got the backing of the World Medical Association, which released a statement Friday that said it “stands firm in support of the KMA amid a government-induced crisis.”
“The right to collective action is universal, and guidelines are in place to ensure patient safety remains paramount during any collective action taken by physicians. … Physicians, including medical students and young doctors, are peacefully practicing their rights within the boundaries of democratic law and constitution,” it said.
Dr. Lujain Al-Qodmani, president of the WMA, was quoted as saying that she “strongly urges the Korean government to reconsider its actions” and “cease the forceful measures imposed on the medical community.”
Joo Soo-ho, the head of the emergency committee’s public relations council under the KMA, told The Korea Herald that doctors won’t “yield to any pressure from the government.”
“To not give in to the pressure is (the KMA’s) principle. No matter what, doctors will continue to raise our voices until what we believe is right is accepted. We genuinely want the people to objectively judge doctors’ rationale regarding the planned hike in medical school enrollment quota,” he said.
Meanwhile, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho told reporters on the same day that police would firmly respond to the protest to prevent serious public disorder, and they would continue their investigation into five striking doctors.
-
Top 10 Tech Pranks24 of America's Best Preserved Ghost Towns紧绷安全生产弦 增强排险除患能力12 Celebrations Where Fire and Fireworks Reign SupremeSCOTUS: The courts implementing Project 2025, without Trump.Midterms 2022: What the Republican lie of “up until birth” abortion really looks like.Apple's most useless dongle ever costs $2918 Trails That Traverse HistoryPressure boost squeezes out more hydrogen from artificial leaves9 Places to Pay Homage to the All
下一篇:Trump trials: Jack Smith is reportedly reconsidering his strategy.
- ·Upgrade Your Monitor, Not Your GPU
- ·Holy moly, shoppers spent so much money this Black Friday
- ·Gerrymandering and the 2022 midterms: The election is about rigged maps and Republican judges.
- ·'I’m a precious daughter': High school video fans public furor
- ·Scientists detect water sloshing on Mars. There could be a lot.
- ·Court orders Japan to compensate ‘comfort women’
- ·胜者赴美与NBA球队交流!首届“村BA”球王争霸赛3月底启动
- ·How to contact Amazon customer service on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- ·多措并举优治理 绘就幸福新图景
- ·Around the World in 14 Unique and Historic Ice
- ·18 Weird, Wondrous Places for Wine
- ·Georgia envoy highlights investment opportunities, 8,000
- ·Ford can make your Mustang Mach
- ·The Ultimate Guide to America's National Parks
- ·The fate of the midterms could rest in a Pennsylvania courtroom.
- ·25 Coffee Shops to Visit Before You Die
- ·厚植精神文明沃土 培树司法文明新风
- ·'I’m a precious daughter': High school video fans public furor
- ·Whew, Mike Pence’s new book makes some hilarious claims about Trump!
- ·Midterms 2022: What the Republican lie of “up until birth” abortion really looks like.
- ·多措并举优治理 绘就幸福新图景
- ·Midterm 2022: Forget all about politics with these soothing, mostly mindless household tasks
- ·N. Korea to hold key party meeting this week for 2023 policies
- ·Best Cyber Monday Peacock deal: Nov. 27 is the last day to get a year of Peacock Premium for $20
- ·尝“鲜”盛宴,等你来探!2024年清远西牛麻竹笋尝鲜季即将启幕
- ·Court orders Japan to compensate ‘comfort women’
- ·Students get free entry at second Rawalpindi Test but what’s the catch?
- ·13 Spectacular Bridges That May Make You Lose Your Lunch
- ·Celebrate Asian
- ·让交通更文明 让市民更满意
- ·It's Unnecessary But, AMD Is Basically Lying About CPU Performance
- ·Moroccan daughter of Korean War veteran honors father's legacy
- ·Our Favorite Weird, Wild Sculpture Gardens
- ·Best early Cyber Monday TV deals 2023
- ·Apple Watch 10 rumors: Everything we know so far
- ·我市召开市乡镇行政区划和村级建制调整改革“后半篇”文章专项工作领导小组会议