"The Medical Issues Consultative Body Has No Obligation to Prepare Meeting Minutes"
The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated regarding the controversy over the submission of the 'medical school expansion meeting minutes' that "the government has transparently operated committees and consultative bodies related to medical school expansion, and all meeting minutes required to be created under the Public Records Management Act have been duly prepared."
On the 7th, Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) briefing on doctors' collective action, "Minutes are prepared and stored for the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee and the Medical Workforce Expert Committee meetings, and we plan to submit the minutes upon the request of the Seoul High Court."
He added, "The 'Medical Issues Consultative Body,' which includes participation from both the government and the Korean Medical Association (KMA), is not a consultative body obligated to prepare meeting minutes under the Public Records Management Act. Although various medical school expansion plans were discussed several times during the 28 meetings held so far by the Medical Issues Consultative Body, the KMA only repeatedly claimed that there is no shortage of doctors. The government has no reason to hide these discussion processes."
The medical community is raising concerns that the government has not properly prepared or disclosed the minutes of the three meetings: the 'Medical Issues Consultative Body,' the 'Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee,' and the 'Quota Allocation Review Committee.'
Vice Minister Park explained, "The government consulted with the KMA on specific measures such as committee composition and meeting operations to ensure substantive discussions with the continuous participation of the KMA in the Medical Issues Consultative Body. To transparently inform the discussion process, both sides agreed to disclose opening remarks and distribute press reference materials, as well as hold press briefings." He continued, "According to the mutually agreed operation method between the government and the KMA, opening remarks from both sides were disclosed at each of the 27 meetings, and the press corps was allowed to attend and directly cover the meetings during the disclosure of opening remarks. Additionally, immediately after each meeting, both sides cooperated to finalize and distribute press release materials containing key discussion results a total of 27 times. These facts transparently disclose content equivalent to the meeting minutes required by the enforcement decree of the Public Records Management Act."
Vice Minister Park stated, "Except for the 27th meeting on January 31, which had no special discussion results, detailed and thorough explanations of the discussion outcomes were provided through 26 joint briefings, and all questions from the press corps were answered sincerely. The only reason for not recording audio or preparing transcripts was to allow free speech, considering that the Medical Issues Consultative Body discusses sensitive matters such as the expansion of medical personnel within the medical community," he elaborated.
He added, "The government will continue to comply with the legal obligations regarding the recording of meeting minutes and transparently disclose the discussion process to the public when discussing medical reforms such as medical school expansion with various sectors."
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