The Korean Medical Association (KMA) has voiced strong opposition after the Public Medical School Establishment Act and the Regional Doctor System Introduction Act were passed in the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, led by the opposition party.
On the 20th, the KMA issued a statement saying, "We strongly urge the National Assembly to immediately halt the promotion of the establishment of public medical schools, which will only produce side effects without effectiveness, and to promptly repeal the related bill."
Earlier, the Regional Doctor System Introduction Act and the Public Medical School Establishment Act were passed in the full meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee, led by the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea. The Regional Doctor System Introduction Act aims to select a portion of medical school quotas separately and require mandatory service at regional medical institutions for 10 years. Those who fail to fulfill the service obligation must return the scholarships received during university and have their medical licenses revoked. The Public Medical School Establishment Act includes provisions to establish public medical schools in each region to address regional healthcare disparities and shortages of essential medical personnel, thereby expanding the medical workforce within those regions.
The KMA claims that the opposition party’s passage of the bills on this day violates an agreement made in 2020. The KMA stated, "At that time, the ruling party, the Democratic Party, agreed on September 4, 2020, through a party agreement that the expansion of medical school quotas and the establishment of new public medical schools would be re-discussed through a consultative body and that related legislative efforts would not be pushed forward." They emphasized, "The Democratic Party’s unilateral proceeding with the full meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee clearly violates the agreement that specified not to enforce policies related to public medical schools."
The KMA argues that forcibly establishing public medical schools will lead to a decline in the quality of medical care. The KMA pointed out, "High-quality doctors are trained under sufficient educational infrastructure, but public medical schools without proper affiliated hospitals will cause a significant decline in the quality of medical education." They added, "Since the environment for students to receive quality education is not adequately prepared, it is evident that a second Seonam Medical School incident caused by poor education will occur." They also expressed concern that "poor education will not only harm the students involved but also negatively impact the health of the public."
The KMA also highlighted that enormous taxpayer money will be invested in establishing public medical schools. According to the KMA, the National Assembly Budget Office estimated that about 133.4 billion KRW will be spent over seven years for the establishment and operation of public medical schools. The KMA criticized, "Hundreds of billions of won will be invested annually for construction, operation, faculty and staff salaries, and student tuition of public medical schools. If separate affiliated hospitals are established, astronomical costs amounting to several trillion won could be additionally required, resulting in a massive waste of taxpayers’ money on ineffective public medical schools."
The KMA strongly condemned the Democratic Party for pushing forward the Public Medical School Act without comprehensive and systematic planning, sufficient social discussion, or consensus, which is expected to waste public funds and produce poor education. They warned, "The Democratic Party bears full responsibility for all social side effects that may arise in the future."
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