The Korean Medical Association (KMA) rejected the government’s proposal to grant admission autonomy to medical schools, causing medical tensions to continue to increase.
On April 21, the KMA representative stated that “the government’s new decision is only a temporary solution, not a fundamental and core solution to the problem.” With 140,000 medical professionals members, KMA is the country’s largest professional organization for Korean doctors, playing a key role in recent strikes.
“For the future of the country, to protect the health of patients who are suffering, we ask the President to discuss the issue again from the beginning,” said Kim Sung-geun, KMA spokesman. He commented that officials “have a week left” to find a solution.
Korean doctors protested in front of the presidential palace in Seoul on February 25. Photo: Reuters
On April 19, Korean officials for the first time made concessions to the medical community. During a government meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said he would allow 32 medical schools to determine their own enrollment quotas next year. The annual increase ranges from 50% to 100%, starting from 2025. Thus, schools can reduce enrollment targets and are not required to recruit 2,000 seats as requested by officials.
The move came after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative ruling party suffered a heavy defeat in this month’s parliamentary election. Initially, the public was sympathetic to the proposal to increase enrollment targets. However, a pre-election poll on April 10 showed that people’s attitudes have changed. Nearly 60% of people surveyed said officials should adjust the scale and timing of the health reform plan.
Since February 20, more than 9,000 resident doctors, the core force that cares for and treats critically ill patients, left the hospital to protest the policy of increasing medical school admission quotas. The crisis spread to the training sector, as medical students and many medical school professors quit their jobs to support resident doctors. Meanwhile, the government began to revoke the practice licenses of nearly 5,000 of the above doctors, while also considering criminal sanctions. All of this puts Korean healthcare in crisis, with many patients having their treatment or surgery delayed.
The strikers protested the government’s increase in medical school admission quotas by 2,000 places from 2025. They said this plan would affect the quality of medical services, causing patients’ hospital bills to increase. higher, while creating a surplus of doctors. Instead of increasing enrollment quotas, the government needs to more effectively protect doctors from malpractice lawsuits and increase compensation levels to encourage more professionals to practice in disadvantaged areas.
Meanwhile, the government believes that increasing targets is necessary to cope with the aging population and strengthen the medical force for essential sectors such as pediatrics, emergency medicine, and surgery.