[관련기사=2월 9일자 간호법, 24명 중 찬성 16표로 '본회의 직회부' 가결]

The Nursing Act and Medical License Revocation Act, ect. were submitted to the Assembly plenary session
 
So far, seven bills containing Nursing Act and Medical License Revocation Act, etc which have been pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly were directly referred to the plenary session. 

The Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly held a general meeting on Feb. 9, and decided to submit the pending agendas of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the Assembly plenary session through secret ballot from the members of the National Assembly.

On this day, all six bills of the Medical License Revocation Act, etc. excluding the Nursing Act were decided to be submitted to the Assembly plenary session with 17 votes for approval, 6 votes for rejection, and 1 vote for invalidation out of a total of 24 votes. The Nursing Act was approved with 16 votes for approval, 7 votes for rejection, and 1 vote for invalidation out of a total of 24 votes.

It seems that 15 opposition members and one of the members of the People’s Power Party have cast an additional vote in favour. On this day, the members of Democratic Party of Korea have expressed their strong will to pass the Nursing Act. 

In particular, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee will open the 2nd subcommittee with an agreement between opposing parties on Feb. 22nd and will start a full-scale discussion, therefore the People's Power Party has insisted to wait until then. However, Chung Choon Sook, chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee, enforcd vote under the chairman's authority.

"The Nursing Act has been pending for more than 261 days in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Medical Service Act is over 700 days as well. but these bills were transferred to the 2nd subcommittee which is called 'grave of the bill' without any debates. There is no reason to wait any longer." said strongly Rep. Kang Hoon-sik of the opposition party.

"To delay these bills any longer is to lower our own esteem by ourselves. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee has neglected so far our good faith and looked down upon the standing committee members." Rep. Kim Min Seok also pointed out.  

"In the meantime, we have clarified our position on this issue through various procedures such as sending the official letters but to no avail. We feel sorry for this situation." said Chung Choon Sook, chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee

The Nursing Act aims to clearly specify the scope of nurse's tasks and to improve their labor conditions by separating the laws related to nurses from the medical service law. However, all the other healthcare professional organizations are opposed to this bill except the Korean Nurses Association on the grounds that this bill infringe the scope of other professionals' tasks including medical doctors' one.

In particular, it is pointed out that if the new law is created even while infringing on the current medical law, it will cause conflict between professionals and will give preferential treatment only to nurses. 

The Medical License Revocation Act is a Medical Act Revision, the main point of which is to revoke the license of doctors when they are sentenced to imprisonment or heavier punishment, like other professionals such as lawyers and certified public accountants.

by Kyung-dae Ha