ILO dismisses request for intervention by striking trainee doctors: labor ministry

Back-to-work orders issued in the name of the health ministry are on a wall of a dorm for trainee doctors at a general hospital in Daegu, March 13. Yonhap

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has dismissed a request by striking Korean trainee doctors for intervention in the government's back-to-work order, concluding that they are not recognized as a labor union eligible for the process, officials said Thursday.

The labor ministry revealed the development after the Korean Intern and Resident Association said last week that it had sent a letter to the ILO, requesting intervention in the Korean government's back-to-work order which, it said, was in violation of the Forced Labor Convention.

The government has issued an order for striking trainee doctors to return to work or face penalties, such as the revocation of their medical license, after thousands of trainee doctors walked off their duties at general hospitals nationwide last month in protest of the government's expansion of the medical school quota.

The doctors' group had accused the order of running counter to the ILO convention against forced labor.

Citing the ministry's inquiry with the ILO, labor ministry officials said on Thursday that the international organization has determined the trainee doctors' association is not recognized as a labor union eligible for an ILO procedure.

"According to the ILO's secretariat, those eligible are the government, trade unions or management groups, and the Korean Intern and Resident Association failed to have its eligibility recognized," the ministry said.

Cho Won-ik, a lawyer representing the medical group, said the ILO decision was conveyed to the group last Friday, and the group immediately submitted another request for intervention with an explanation that it is the sole organization representing trainee doctors. (Yonhap)