Leaders of doctors’ group in South Korea attend police questioning over walkout
Three incumbent and former officials of the Korea Medical Association (KMA) appeared before police Tuesday for questioning over allegations that they instigated the mass walkout by trainee doctors, Yonhap reports.
Upon arriving at the public crime investigation unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at 9:50 a.m., Kim Taek-woo, chief of the KMA's emergency committee, and Park Myung-ha, chief of the KMA emergency committee's organizational affairs, outright denied the charges.
"The voluntary stepping down of our fellow trainee doctors did not occur due to someone's incitement," Park said. "As young health care workers, they are defying what will ruin this country's long-term medical plans based on professional knowledge and conscience."
We strongly urge the government to come to the negotiating table now, the KMA executives added.
The questioning came after the health ministry filed a complaint last month against five current and former leaders of the KMA on suspicions of instigating the ongoing mass walkout by thousands of trainee doctors.
Lim Hyun-taek, the president of the Korean Pediatric Association who was also brought in for questioning Tuesday, denied the role of some doctors, including himself, in causing the collective action.
"The resignation of trainee doctors is not a crime," Lim said. "It is the exercise of the freedom to choose an occupation as a citizen."