[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeonhyeop), which had announced a full-scale strike (collective sickout) in protest of the medical school quota expansion policy, has decided to engage in dialogue with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
On the 5th, Daejeonhyeop announced that it would form a communication consultative body to communicate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and convey the opinions of residents, and discuss the promotion plan for health and medical policies.
However, Daejeonhyeop drew a line by stating that despite the dialogue with the Ministry, the strike plan has not changed. Park Jihyun, president of Daejeonhyeop, said, "In discussions with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, we confirmed differences in position regarding the expansion of medical school quotas," adding, "There is no change in our opposition to the policy of increasing the number of doctors that lowers the quality of resident training environments."
To minimize the damage from the residents' strike scheduled for the 7th, Daejeonhyeop stated that substitute personnel are being deployed within training hospitals and duty shifts are being changed, and that patient care in essential medical fields will not be disrupted despite the absence of residents.
The first consultative meeting between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Daejeonhyeop is scheduled to be held on the 11th.
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