Leaders of the country’s biggest doctors’ association appeared before police Friday for another round of questioning over allegations that they instigated the mass walkout by trainee doctors.

“We ask the government to think in a more flexible, forward-looking way,” said Kim Taek-woo, emergency committee chief of the Korea Medical Association (KMA), before entering the public crime investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

“The government is responsible for ensuring people’s health and medical professionals are responsible for remaining by the side of patients,” he said. “If the medical circle and the government come together on this issue, we can resolve this issue.”

Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Association, also appeared for questioning and denied his involvement in the collective resignations of trainee doctors.

Lim, who plans to run for the next president of the KMA in the elections starting next week, said after the questioning that he will lead a nationwide stri
ke by doctors if elected KMA president.

“We will no longer be pushed around by government violence,” he said. “The government is treating trainee doctors and even professors like criminals.”

The questioning came after the health ministry filed a complaint last month against five current and former leaders of the KMA on suspicion of instigating the ongoing mass walkout by thousands of trainee doctors.

Source: Yonhap News Agency