“My life is ruined. Joseon is a country where people who only talk eat well. Joseon has no hope. You should escape Joseon.”
Director Lee Kook-jong of the National Defense Medical Center strongly criticized the Korean medical system during a lecture aimed at military doctors.
On the 14th, this director delivered a lecture to candidates for military doctors at a training center in Goesan, Chungbuk. He mentioned essential course avoidance, conflicts in the medical community, and structural issues within large hospitals.
The director said, “If you don’t want to live being harassed your whole life by older professors at large hospitals like Seoul National University Hospital and Severance Hospital and by civil servants, don’t engage with vital affairs,” and added, “Never live like me. All you’ll get in return is a dismissal notice.”
He continued, “I worked hard in trauma surgery my whole life, but nothing has changed. My life is ruined,” and noted, “Professor Yoon Han-deok, who worked with me in trauma surgery, died from overwork. Don’t let yourselves end up like that.”
The late Professor Yoon Han-deok, mentioned by the director, is recognized as a figure dedicated to establishing a domestic emergency medical system, including the introduction of emergency medical helicopters and the operation of a disaster and emergency medical situation room. On February 4, 2019, while serving as the head of the Emergency Medical Center at the National Medical Center, he was found in a state of cardiac arrest in his office just before the Lunar New Year holidays. It is presumed that he died from overwork while delaying his exit to prevent any gaps in emergency medical services.
The director criticized the training environment for residents and the structural issues of university hospitals, stating, “Professors are indeed middle exploiters,” and remarked, “When a hospital that extracts residents to install full glass on walls and escalators demands a price increase, the children of Joseon call it ‘nonsense.’”
The director also conveyed that a military doctor from the National Defense Medical Center passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination. He said, “I converted the basement storage of the National Defense Medical Center into a study room, and a mental health military doctor passed the first part of the USMLE there,” adding, “If you don’t like the temple, leave the monk. There’s no hope in Joseon. Escape Joseon.”
Regarding conflicts in the medical community, he said, “I thought there would be a fight between returnees and others, but surprisingly, everyone is nice. Seeing them teasing each other with terms like ‘tangerine’ (a derogatory term for returning doctors) is kind of cute.”
He added, “The Korean Peninsula is a country where people who only talk eat well. The DNA of Joseon that has continued for thousands of years cannot change.”