Yoon: "Won't Pass Like Past Governments... Medical Community Cannot Defeat the People" (Comprehensive)

"Medical Care Is Like National Defense and Public Security... Will Not Back Down"
Strong Confrontation Expected as Doctor Increase Pushes Forward
Big5 Hospital Residents Suspend Work from 6 AM

President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized on the 19th, amid collective protests by doctors opposing the increase in medical school quotas, that "healthcare is a critical issue no different from national defense or public security. We will not let it pass like the previous administration." This reflects his stance that the government cannot back down in protecting the lives and health of the people, especially as the shortage of doctors in essential medical fields becomes more serious.

According to officials from the Presidential Office on the 20th, President Yoon made these remarks after receiving a report the previous day from his aides on the medical community's backlash, including the collective resignation of residents.

He stressed his determination not to repeat the mistakes of past governments that failed to implement reforms due to obstruction by doctors, given that healthcare is a vital social element directly linked to the lives of citizens, similar to national defense and public security.

The government has repeatedly retreated in the face of doctors' opposition, such as accepting a reduction in medical school quotas during the 2000 separation of prescribing and dispensing of medicines, withdrawing the introduction of telemedicine in 2014, and failing to increase medical school quotas in 2020.

President Yoon particularly pointed out that "healthcare is a critical issue from the perspective of protecting the lives and health of the people." His remarks were interpreted as a veiled criticism of residents opposing the increase in medical school quotas who collectively abandoned their workplaces, causing situations where patients could not receive timely treatment, actions that threaten the people's right to life and health.

Regarding the saying circulating within some parts of the medical community that "the government cannot defeat doctors," President Yoon criticized, "The medical community cannot defeat the people."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This increase in medical school quotas represents the last chance to rebuild regional and essential healthcare. During a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo the previous day, President Yoon instructed, "Please ensure thorough measures to protect the lives and health of the people." He also ordered the cabinet to "swiftly implement" the issues discussed at the public livelihood forum.

At the 8th public livelihood forum held on the 1st of this month under the theme "Medical Reform to Save Lives and Regions," President Yoon announced a four-policy package for medical reform, stating, "Now is the golden time to push forward medical reform. If we retreat due to some opposition or resistance against the medical reform that the majority of the people want, it would be abandoning the fundamental role of the state."

Meanwhile, residents from the so-called 'Big 5' hospitals (Seoul National University, Severance, Samsung Seoul, Seoul Asan, and Seoul St. Mary's) began work stoppages starting at 6 a.m. on the same day, which is expected to cause a significant medical vacuum. The government has warned that residents who refuse to comply with orders to resume work and abandon their posts will face license suspension and prosecution.

Following this, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is preparing to operate emergency rooms 24 hours at 409 emergency medical institutions nationwide and is readying to deploy public health doctors and military medical officers to address the medical vacuum. However, these measures are insufficient to overcome on-site chaos such as 'surgery cancellations' and 'emergency room paralysis.'

On the 20th, medical staff at a university hospital in Seoul are leaving work holding their gowns in their hands.
[Image source=Yonhap News]