Asan Medical Center surgical resident elected new head of resident doctors' association

The Korean Intern Resident Association announced Friday that Lee Eui-ju, a surgical resident at Asan Medical Center, was elected the association's 29th president.

Lee ran unopposed and won with 91.71 percent of the vote — 4,160 of 4,536 ballots cast — with a turnout of 54.26 percent among 8,360 eligible members.

She is only the second woman to lead the association in its history.

Lee, who previously served as the association's vice president, said the organization had spent the past year stabilizing training conditions in the wake of the medical community dispute and laying the groundwork for the next phase. "Now is the time for resident doctors to actively speak up for their own rights and demand better training environments," she said.

She outlined her key priorities for her term: raising resident pay, guaranteeing protected training time, simplifying training records and expanding policy research for young doctors.

Her one-year term begins Sept. 1.