Presidential Office "Deep Regret Over Medical Community's Firm Stance on 'Reconsideration from Scratch'... Time to Respond" (Comprehensive)

Jang Sang-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Briefing
Medical Reform Special Committee Launches on 25th... Medical Community Rejects
"Strict Measures According to Law and Principles if Resident Doctors' Return is Obstructed"

Jang Sang-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs at the Presidential Office, is giving a briefing on current issues including the increase in medical school admissions on the 23rd at the open lounge of the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office stated on the 23rd, "The government has accepted the recommendations of national university presidents to resolve the legislative conflict, allowing universities to set their recruitment numbers within 50-100% of next year's increased medical school admission quota. However, it is very regrettable that the medical community continues to insist on a 'complete reconsideration from the beginning' stance."

In particular, the 'Medical Reform Special Committee,' a social consultative body to concretize the implementation plans of the four major medical reform tasks, is scheduled to launch on the 25th, but the Korean Medical Association has refused to participate, and the Korean Intern Resident Association has not expressed its position, which is very unfortunate.

Jang Sang-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and said, "There have been claims from the medical community wanting one-on-one talks with the government. The government proposed a '5+4 Legislative Consultative Body' in private a week ago, but even that has been rejected, which we cannot help but express regret about." After President Yoon had a long meeting with Park Dan, the Acting Chairperson of the Korean Intern Resident Association, the government has kept the door open and attempted contact to maintain dialogue with the medical community, but there has been no significant progress.

Senior Secretary Jang said, "Last week, the government's proactive acceptance of the university presidents' requests was intended to prioritize the people and patients who are anxiously watching the legislative conflict unfold with a burning heart," adding, "Since the government has made a policy decision without being bound by numbers, it is now time for the medical community to respond and take action."

He continued, "Instead of ignoring the desperate voices of the people and patients and repeatedly demanding 'cancellation of medical school expansion and complete reconsideration,' medical organizations should now participate in the Medical Reform Special Committee and engage in dialogue."

Regarding cases where students' return to studies is being blocked, he stated that the government will respond firmly according to law and principles.

Senior Secretary Jang emphasized, "It was recently confirmed that a medical school student council collectively pressured its members to prevent their return to studies," adding, "This is not only a violation of statutory law but also an act against constitutional values as it forcibly obstructed individuals' free decision-making. Similar to the previous incident that hindered the return of interns and residents, strict measures will be taken according to law and principles."

"Claims of Medical Collapse on the 25th Are Groundless"

Regarding recent claims from some in the medical community that professors will collectively resign on the 25th, leading to the collapse of South Korea's medical system, the office dismissed these as "groundless." Senior Secretary Jang said, "This is causing public anxiety, but it is not true," explaining, "Because the submission, format, reasons for resignation, and employment contract types of medical school professors' resignation letters vary, it cannot be uniformly considered that the resignations will take effect."

He particularly noted, "Collective action cannot be a reason for resignation," and added, "The education authorities understand that no resignation letters have been formally submitted to university headquarters and accepted so far."

He also hinted that despite the prolonged collective action opposing medical school expansion, the government will continue to push forward with medical reform. Senior Secretary Jang said, "We regret the inconvenience caused to the public due to the prolonged doctors' collective action," and emphasized, "The government will minimize confusion in the medical field and repay the majority of the public who continue to support medical reform unwaveringly by completing the reform."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the issue of allowing university presidents to autonomously decide on expansion within 50-100% without postponement, and the criticism that a 100% increase possibility makes it difficult for medical schools and doctors to accept, a senior presidential office official explained that autonomy was granted to universities. The official told reporters, "The government is not really supposed to negotiate with the medical community on the scale or number of medical school expansion," adding, "Since doctors are engaging in collective action and have opinions, the government expressed willingness to discuss, and after receiving the university presidents' opinions, autonomy over recruitment numbers, not quota adjustment, was granted."

"No Intention to Intervene or Provide Guidelines to Universities"

The official mentioned the differing positions between university presidents who consider the university's status and medical schools opposing expansion, stating, "The process of deciding recruitment numbers goes through official university procedures such as academic regulation amendments, so we hope that opinions will be gathered autonomously within the university," and emphasized, "We have no intention to intervene or provide guidelines."

When asked about responses to medical school professors submitting resignation letters, the official said that the number of formally submitted resignation letters is not as many as reported, adding, "Regardless of legal aspects of illegality, we hope that professors do not leave hospital sites, and we do not have specific plans for legal action regarding resignation letters." Regarding whether additional meetings with the Korean Medical Association's emergency committee and the Korean Intern Resident Association have been scheduled, the official said, "We are continuing to attempt dialogue," and mentioned that the Medical Reform Special Committee, a social consultative body, will be launched soon.

In response to criticism that granting autonomy over medical school expansion undermines the government's medical reform principles, the official replied, "We do not see it as undermining principles. The quota for the 2025 academic year is already fixed at 2,000," and explained, "We granted autonomy to university presidents to decide the number of recruits for the 2025 academic year within the fixed quota of 2,000, which is a limited discretionary authority." He added, "If decided within that scope, we will approve and accept it only for the 2025 academic year, so we do not consider this a violation of principles."