Appeal to Restrain Collective Action... "We Must Do Our Best to Ensure Residents Return"
"Professors should engage directly in dialogue with the public instead of submitting their resignations."
Kim Jeong-eun, Dean of Seoul National University College of Medicine, appealed to the professors to do their best to ensure the return of medical students and residents. He also emphasized that no one should criticize or obstruct their return.
According to medical circles on the 7th, Dean Kim sent an email to the professors of Seoul National University College of Medicine that day. It is reported to contain the message that medical school professors should engage directly with the public rather than submitting resignations. Amid the prolonged collective action by the medical community opposing the increase in medical school admissions, Seoul National University College of Medicine is seeking its own self-help measures.
Dean Kim wrote, "Protecting students and residents is of utmost importance," adding, "However, at this point, the message from Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital should be 'We are responsible for the health of the people of the Republic of Korea.'" He continued, "At a time when no one can act as a mediator, the mediator must be the people," emphasizing, "The role of the professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine should be to convey the correct direction of medicine and healthcare to the public."
He then proposed setting principles regarding the return of residents. The three principles he suggested are: ▲ All professors must do their best to ensure that medical students and residents return ▲ All responsibility and burden belong to the seniors, and they should not impose the burden of sacrifice on others; professors have a duty to protect students and residents ▲ For any reason, no one should criticize or obstruct the return of students and residents or the professors’ efforts to persuade them to return.
"We must not lose the trust of the people..."
In the email, Dean Kim also mentioned the "trust of the people." He stated, "None of us want the trust of the public in the medical community to fall to rock bottom due to this incident, nor do we want our future generations to be hurt or essential medical services to be completely destroyed." He added, "Regarding the resignation of residents and the leave of absence of medical students, Seoul National University will seek solutions at the university level," and said, "As a first step tomorrow, we will hold a town hall meeting with the president and vice president along with the medical students."
Earlier that day, Seoul National University issued a press release announcing that it had applied to the Ministry of Education to increase the medical school admission quota by a total of 15 students for the 2025 academic year. Additionally, it stated that it had separately applied for 50 undergraduate spots on the premise of establishing a new Department of Medical Science to train physician-scientists. In relation to this, at a recent emergency faculty meeting of Seoul National University College of Medicine, there were calls for Dean Kim’s resignation, citing that the application for increasing medical school admissions was submitted to the Ministry of Education without internal consultation.
Meanwhile, the government is making all-out efforts to alleviate public anxiety over the medical service gap following the mass departure of residents after the announcement of the increase in medical school admissions. While strictly enforcing laws against residents who left hospitals, the government has also announced measures to resolve hospitals’ staffing and financial issues one after another. On this day, the government announced that it had prepared a "Health Insurance Additional Support Plan for Emergency Medical System" worth 188.2 billion KRW per month to ensure the stable operation of the emergency medical system.
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