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Central, provincial governments clash over Jinju hospital 

By Cho Chung-un

The central government collided with the South Gyeongsang Province government again on Thursday over a troubled public hospital in Jinju, which was forced to shut down by the local authorities despite the repeated opposition from Seoul.

Health Minister Chin Young has requested Governor Hong Joon-pyo of South Gyeongsang Province to ask local councilors to reconsider their approval of a bill that legally formalized the closure of Jinju Medical Center.

Hong, the former chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, immediately rejected, saying he is not obliged to comply with the request. The governor also told local reporters that he would not attend as a witness to a planned parliamentary inspection on Jinju Medical Center. Further, he has refused to hold a local referendum.

The bitter confrontation between the two authorities emerged two days after councilors from the ruling Saenuri Party railroaded the Jinju hospital bill.

Despite fierce protests by the main opposition Democratic Party and the labor union, the bill was approved by a majority of councilors from the ruling party only five minutes after it was brought up to an emergency meeting at the provincial assembly.

To this, the Health Ministry criticized councilors for making a unilateral decision to close down the hospital without consulting the matter with the central government.

Officials said the Health Ministry has the right to take part in the process of shutting down the hospital because it was partly funded by the central government.

“The bill is in breach of the law because it neglects the health minister’s order to reconsider the closure of the hospital which was being funded by the central government,” an official at the ministry said.

Last month, Hong announced that the provincial government would shut down Jinju Medical Center, citing snowballing losses.

The former ruling party leader sparked a nationwide controversy when he warned that the government would shut down the country’s second-oldest public hospital unless its operations improved. (christory@heraldcorp.com)