Yoon to Medical Community: "No Collective Action Holding People's Lives Hostage... Increasing Medical School Quotas Is a Timely Task" (Update)

Held Cabinet Meeting Emphasizing the Necessity of Medical School Expansion
Also Refuted Claims of Excessive Expansion and Decline in Medical Education Quality

President Yoon Suk-yeol urged medical students and residents to return to their posts, stating that "they must not engage in collective actions that hold the lives and health of the people hostage," in response to their collective decision to take leave of absence and submit resignation letters to hospitals on the 20th in protest against the increase in medical school admissions.

At the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office that afternoon, President Yoon pointed out that despite the inevitability of medical reform and the announcement of support policies for the medical community, residents had engaged in collective action, adding, "There have been cases where surgeries have been reduced or cancer patient surgeries have been postponed."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He repeatedly emphasized why doctors, who protect the people's right to health, must not abandon medical sites, increasing the pressure. President Yoon said, "Protecting the lives and safety of the people is, along with national security and public order, the fundamental constitutional duty given to the government and the reason for the nation's existence," adding, "From that perspective, the state must efficiently manage medical resources to protect the lives and health of the people." He further stressed, "Even though doctors are not public officials like soldiers or police officers, they must never engage in collective refusal of medical treatment."

Listing problems occurring in the medical field such as the collapse of essential regional medical services and nurse deaths due to the absence of surgeons in the Big 5 hospitals (Seoul National University, Severance, Samsung Seoul, Seoul Asan, Seoul St. Mary’s), he emphasized that "increasing medical school admissions is a task of the times." President Yoon pointed out, "The demand for medical services is rapidly increasing, but the supply cannot keep up with the demand. Especially, the number of medical personnel in essential medical fields has decreased significantly, resulting in the collapse of essential regional medical services."

He also refuted point by point the concerns raised by parts of the medical community and opposition parties regarding the increase of 2,000 students and the qualitative decline in medical education. President Yoon explained, "The increase of 2,000 students is literally the minimum expansion scale," adding, "Even if medical school admissions increase starting next year, the first graduates will only come out in 2031, and it will take at least 10 years to produce specialists and see the effect of strengthening the essential medical system. The increase of 2,000 essential medical doctors will be realized only by 2035."

He continued, "The claim that the quality of medical education will decline due to the increase in medical school admissions is also incorrect. The current admission quota at Seoul National University College of Medicine is 135, but in 1983 it was 260. Over 40 years, while medical demand exploded, the admission quota was halved," emphasizing, "The same applies to national medical schools representing regions such as Kyungpook National University, Chonnam National University, and Pusan National University. The capabilities of doctors educated when the quotas were higher were not at all lacking."

President Yoon also urged, "Medical professionals, please join the medical reform that can no longer be delayed," repeatedly requesting residents and medical students to refrain from collective actions.

On the 20th, medical staff are moving at a large hospital in Seoul, where residents have submitted resignation letters at training hospitals nationwide, including the 'Big 5' hospitals, signaling the beginning of a wave of hospital departures. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@