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Professors urge Ajou medical center chief to quit

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By Bahk Eun-ji

A group of professors at Ajou University College of Medicine have demanded the resignation of its director Yoo Hee-seok, Thursday, who is under fire for his abusive remarks against Lee Kuk-jong, the head of the regional trauma center at the university hospital.

Lee Kuk-jong /Yonhap
Lee Kuk-jong /Yonhap
The professors released statement and said "What Yoo did to Lee was clear verbal abuse, which is a typical example of bullying in the workplace. No one should carry out such abusive behavior regardless of their position, and motivation of the conflict."

In the statement, the group also urged Yoo to step down immediately from his post as director and apologize for damaging the hospital's reputation.

"No one can deny that Lee has contributed greatly to the hospital's reputation by leading the trauma center together with the whole faculty of the hospital," the group said in a statement.

Yoo came under fire when a recording of the conversation with Lee was reported by the local television network MBC on Monday.

In the leaked recording, Yoo was heard referring to Lee using expletives, and called him "subhuman."

In a recent interview with MBC before he left for a two-month naval training exercise in the Pacific, Lee said the expletives were directed at him, and the conversation was mainly about the lack of hospital investments in the emergency room system of the hospital.

Previously, Lee pointed out that Ajou University hospital had been misusing government subsidies and allocating sickbeds between general wards and a trauma center.

The trauma center led by Lee at the hospital is the medical institution with the final responsibility to take care of patents with serious injuries. The financial difficulties and lack of sickbeds have been referred to as endemic problems, and many believe it was the source of the year-long conflict between Yoo and Lee.

Yoo's position as the director of Ajou Hospital is about to expire at the end of next month, and he will be retiring in August.

The hospital said it did not have any official stance on this incident yet.
Bahk Eun-ji ejb@koreatimes.co.kr


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