South Korean Prime Minister on Medical Sector's Government Data Disclosure: "Intent to Obstruct Trial"

"Government Makes Decision to Increase Staff Based on Scientific Methodology"

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pointed out that the medical community's attempt to disclose the government's evidence for increasing medical school admissions submitted to the court is "an intention to pressure the judiciary through public opinion warfare and obstruct a fair trial."

At the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on doctors' collective action held at the Government Seoul Office on the 13th, Prime Minister Han said, "The medical community's representatives have announced that they will distribute all the materials from the allocation review committee through a press conference," adding, "If there are any disagreements with the materials submitted by the government as the opposing party in the lawsuit, they can be submitted through the legal process. Therefore, I hope that indiscriminate disclosure of materials will be refrained from at least until the decision to be made within this week, so that the court can make the fairest judgment without any obstruction or burden."

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo [Image source=Yonhap News]

The materials that the medical community's legal representatives intend to disclose today were requested by the court from the government during the appeal trial for the suspension of the enforcement of the increase in medical school admissions. The government has submitted about 50 documents, including meeting materials and reports that served as the basis for the "increase of 2,000 students." Prime Minister Han explained, "The government carefully prepared and submitted the materials requested by the court on the 10th," adding, "All requested materials have been submitted, and although the court did not specifically mention it, we also voluntarily and faithfully submitted additional materials such as the summary of the allocation review committee, which we judged would be helpful."

Regarding the medical community's opposition claiming that there is "no scientific basis for increasing medical school admissions," he rebutted, "The government decided to increase medical school admissions based on multiple scientific research reports forecasting a shortage of 10,000 doctors by 2035, which is less than ten years away." He added, "We considered the reality that the medical school quota has not been increased by even one student for 19 years despite rising medical demand, and referred to the desired increase scale and educational conditions of 40 universities nationwide that have medical schools," emphasizing, "We made efforts to consult and reflect the medical community's opinions until the very last moment."

Prime Minister Han also stated, "We confirmed that major foreign countries have already been actively training medical personnel for several years in response to population changes and medical advancements," and emphasized, "The government plans to thoroughly explain the decision-making process for increasing medical school admissions to the court during the upcoming trial process and will transparently disclose all details to the public."