KMA: "Announcing Medical School Quotas Leads to Catastrophe... Dialogue Must Restart from Square One"

"No specific collective action plan has been decided"

As the government prepares to announce its plan for the allocation of increased medical school quotas by university, the medical community raised their voices, saying, "The government is crossing a point of no return."

Kim Kang-hyun, Spokesperson for the Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Association.
Photo by Choi Tae-won peaceful1@

The Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) stated this during a regular briefing held on the afternoon of the 19th at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Kim Kang-hyun, spokesperson for the KMA Emergency Response Committee, said, "The government, including the President, has not budged an inch from the position of increasing medical school quotas by 2,000 students, while deceiving the public with false claims that they are communicating with the medical community."

He continued, "President Yoon Seok-yeol told doctors at a meeting to 'trust the government and come to the dialogue,' but at the same time, he confirmed and notified the Emergency Response Committee officials of a three-month suspension of their medical licenses," criticizing the administration.

He also urged the government to stop announcing the quotas by medical school and to come to the dialogue table. He said, "If the quotas by medical school are finalized and announced, it will result in a catastrophic outcome by cutting off the last bridge to return," and added, "The government should stop its double-faced behavior and come to the dialogue table to discuss from the beginning."

However, no specific collective action plans such as a general strike were announced. When asked by reporters about plans for a vote among all members for collective action, spokesperson Kim replied, "It is still under discussion and nothing has been firmly decided," and said, "Whether to hold a general strike will be decided by the new president, the Emergency Response Committee chairperson, and several executives after gathering the members' opinions."

Meanwhile, after the briefing, Park Myung-ha, the KMA Emergency Response Committee’s Organization Strengthening Committee Chair, stated regarding the government's 'medical license suspension' measure, "We absolutely cannot accept this and will contest its legitimacy to the end through administrative lawsuits, etc." Kim Taek-woo, chair of the KMA Emergency Response Committee, and Park received the official notification of the three-month license suspension from the Ministry of Health and Welfare by mail the day before.