The medical community “joins the citizens.”
As mass rallies occur every day to call for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, medical volunteer groups are being organized to work on the street.
The medical community sends medical support groups to a rally to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. (Credit: Getty Images)
From this week, the Seoul Medical Association (SMA) will provide medical services at the civic shelter in front of the National Assembly, which is run by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Friday and Saturday.
One internal medicine and surgery specialist will be on duty. Medicines and medical supplies will also be available. The medical service team was organized after the SMA accepted a request for medical support from DPK’s special committee on healthcare.
“Many citizens from all over the country are gathering in front of the National Assembly to impeach the president. The Seoul Medical Association will prepare for any health and safety issues,” said SMA Chairman Hwang Kyu-seok in a press release on Wednesday.
“We think it is very meaningful that SMA provides medical support for the candlelight vigil,” Hwang added, emphasizing that SMA will “breathe and walk with citizens in good times and bad.”
The Seoul National University College of Medicine-Seoul National University Hospital Faculty Emergency Committee also provides medical support.
“On Tuesday, the Seoul Medical Association and the Seoul National University Emergency Committee decided to provide medical support,” said Professor Kang Hee-kyung, who served as the chairperson of the emergency committee, on her social media. The latter’s decision was also made in coordination with DPK.
“It is a time when the entire nation is joining the president's impeachment. “I am afraid that the Korean Medical Association (KMA), which does not participate, will go down in history,” Professor Kang wrote. “I feel relieved that the Seoul Medical Association and Seoul National University have resolved to provide medical support.”
However, the KMA is also considering medical support. The emergency committee of the nation’s largest doctors’ group is preparing to organize a medical support team. Members have criticized the association for its passive response to the impeachment process.
“We are pushing to organize a medical support group centered on the emergency committee,” Park Hyung-wook, chairman of the committee, told reporters, adding that the committee's fourth meeting, scheduled for later in the evening, will focus on the matter.
Before the meeting, Park visited the National Assembly and met with DPK lawmakers on a hunger strike calling for the president's impeachment.