[Inside Chodong] Medical Community Must Come to the Negotiation Table Amid 'Emergency Room Crisis'

"Medical School Expansion Is Not a Prerequisite for Saving Essential Healthcare"
The Medical Community Must Gather Opinions and Speak with One Voice

President Yoon Suk-yeol is visiting a regional emergency medical center in Gyeonggi-do on the 4th to inspect the emergency medical site. [Image source=Yonhap News]

"The emergency room has been difficult before, is difficult now, and will continue to be difficult in the future."

On the night of the 4th, during a field visit to the Regional Emergency Medical Center at Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, President Yoon Suk-yeol was earnestly appealed to by a medical staff member. What he proposed was not the 'complete cancellation of medical school expansion' consistently demanded by the medical community. "The emergency room is a tough place. Please establish institutional measures so that doctors can take an interest in and support those who are struggling to save lives here. It is urgent to alleviate the legal burdens on medical staff regarding medical accidents." The expression of the medical staff guarding the late-night emergency room, where life and death hang in the balance, was even solemn.

As concerns about medical gaps such as the 'emergency room rotation' grew ahead of the Chuseok holiday, President Yoon visited the medical site in person. Arriving at the emergency center around 8:50 p.m. the previous day, President Yoon stayed at the medical site for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, far exceeding expectations, visually confirming the medical situation and listening to the difficulties of the emergency center from the medical staff. The hospital director expressed difficulties, saying, "The fatigue of professors filling the vacant positions of residents is increasing, and as a result, the disruption in backup medical care is becoming more severe."

While the conflict between the medical community and the government over medical school expansion fails to find a solution, public anxiety is growing. The medical community, warning of an emergency crisis, continues to insist on "complete withdrawal of medical school expansion," while the government expresses its determination to complete medical reform, stating, "It is not at a level to cause collapse." There is growing concern about where this precarious tightrope walk, with the lives of the people at stake, will end.

The Presidential Office expresses frustration. On the 29th of last month, Sung Tae-yoon, Director of Policy at the Presidential Office, hinted at room for adjustment, saying, "If a scientific basis is provided and a rational, unified alternative is presented, the option to adjust the quota after the 2026 academic year remains valid." This means that if the medical community does not present the unrealistic condition of complete cancellation but instead proposes an appropriate number with concrete evidence, there is room for compromise. However, the medical community remains silent. There is underlying distrust toward the government's unilateral push for reform without considering the opinions of the medical community.

Looking at the series of events, the most regrettable point is the response of the medical community. The 2025 medical school expansion is virtually confirmed, and if the current situation continues?where practitioners and residents are scattered according to their interests and cannot even present a unified proposal?the 2026 expansion is likely to proceed according to the government's plan. The current situation, where the medical community cannot speak with one voice and only insists on "complete cancellation of expansion," is also difficult to gain public sympathy.

President Yoon Suk-yeol's administration still has nearly three years left. Therefore, the strategy must change. As the medical community says, medical school expansion cannot be a prerequisite for essential, regional, and public healthcare. The government expects a trickle-down effect through medical school expansion, but under the current system, it cannot overcome the situation where students flock only to profitable departments such as plastic surgery and dermatology. The medical community should not focus solely on their own calculations but should gather opinions and come to the negotiation table to achieve proper medical reform that allows our advanced medical system to prepare for aging.