Police raid offices of doctors association amid walkout

Police on Friday raided some offices of the current and former leaders of a mainstream doctors’ association accused of violating medical laws amid an ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors. Early Friday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to several offices, including that of the emergency committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the Seoul Medical Association, to secure relevant information from the mobile phones and computers of the officials On Tuesday, the health ministry filed a police complaint against the KMA’s emergency committee chief Kim Taek-woo; two others members of the KMA leadership; a former KMA chief; and Lim Hyeon-taek, the chief of the Korean Pediatric Society.

The ministry accused them of instigating the trainee doctors’ mass resignations by expressing support and providing legal assistance in the government’s first legal action taken in connection with the walkout. The investigation came as thousands of intern and resident doctors have stayed away from their jobs at general hospitals nationwide since Tuesday last week in their collective action protesting the government’s plan to 스포츠토토존 hike the medical school admission quota by 2,000 seats next year.