Assemblyman So Byeong-cheol Strongly Appeals for New Medical School Establishment in Jeonnam Region with Shaved Head

Rep. So, Establishing Medical Schools as the Solution to Poor Medical Environments

So Byeong-cheol, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and the secretary of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 18th to urge the establishment of a medical school in the Jeonnam region and carried out a head-shaving ceremony to demonstrate his resolve.

During the press conference, Representative So pointed out the dire medical situation in Jeonnam, stating that it is practically on the verge of collapse. The number of doctors per 1,000 people in Jeonnam is 1.7, which is significantly lower than the OECD average of 3.7 and the South Korean average of 2.5. The transfer rate of severe emergency patients is 9.7%, more than twice the national average of 4.7%.

[Photo by So Byeong-cheol]

Representative So welcomed the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's policy to increase the number of medical students but emphasized that resolving regional medical imbalances is only possible through both increasing medical school quotas and establishing a new medical school in the Jeonnam area.

After the press conference, Representative So moved to the steps in front of the National Assembly main building and held a head-shaving ceremony, embodying the wishes of Jeonnam residents to guarantee at least the basic right to medical care through the establishment of a medical school in the region.

After the head-shaving ceremony, Representative So stated, “I am prepared to devote not only my hair but my entire body to the establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam,” and strongly urged Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to promote the establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam at the party level.

Floor leader Hong Ik-pyo responded by saying that seeing Representative So go as far as shaving his head made him feel the seriousness of the matter and promised to actively consider the issue.

At the press conference and head-shaving ceremony, National Assembly members Kim Seung-nam, Kim Won-i, Kim Hoe-jae, and Shin Jeong-hoon, Jeonnam Democratic Party provincial councilors, Democratic Party of Korea Jeonnam provincial party officials, Suncheon city Democratic Party councilors, and Suncheon regional committee officials also participated, strongly urging the establishment of a medical school in the Jeonnam region.

Representative So appealed strongly, “The expansion of medical school quotas should proceed in a direction that expands the insufficient essential and public medical infrastructure and saves regional medical care on the brink of collapse. The establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam, where the aging rate is high, is a matter of survival, and the government and ruling party must promptly finalize the establishment of a national medical school in the Jeonnam region.”

Suncheon = Lee Yeon-gyeong, Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, hss79@asiae.co.kr