The Korea Medical Association (KMA) announced yesterday that it will punish the inside whistle blower who is claimed to have disgraced the organization in public over the association's recent bribery scandal.
In a meeting, the central ethics committee of the organization decided to remit the cases of two people _ one who voice-recorded the speech of Jhang Dong-ik, former KMA president, mentioning the giving of kickbacks to politicians; and the one who reported the scandal to the media.
The committee's decision is in conflict with the current trend to protect informants, especially before all relevant information has been made available.
An anonymous committee member said that Jhang's scandal was something that the group had to handle by itself, but the whistle blower had made the case big by spreading the news to the papers.
However, the committee's decision is raising huge concern, especially among the insiders of the KMA. Another committee member told the Yonhap News Agency that the committee chairman strongly pushed the case, but worried that all Koreans would criticize the group.
Professor Park Hong-shik of Chung-Ang University said that developed countries have systems to protect informers and that the KMA's decision is indicative that the organization has problems it doesn't want revealed to others.
``If the informant sues the committee and the information turns out to be true, it is highly likely that the accused will win the case at the court and the committee will be further embarrassed,'' Park said.