Ruling and Opposition Parties' Negotiation Committee Halts Talks After 20 Days... "No Will from Government and Ruling Party to Resolve"

The 'Ruling Party, Opposition, Government, and Medical Community' consultative body will suspend its activities just 20 days after its launch. This is because it failed to narrow the gap between the government and the medical community on the core issue of 'medical school quotas.'

Yonhap News

The consultative body, consisting of the People Power Party, the government, the Korean Medical Association, and the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Medical Schools (KAMC), was launched on the 11th of last month to discuss solutions to resolve conflicts between the government and the medical community surrounding medical reform.

Lee Man-hee, a member of the People Power Party who participated as the party’s representative in the consultative body, said at a briefing after the meeting on the day, "The medical community has continuously requested changes to the 2025 medical school quotas, but considering that the admissions process is already well underway, it was a demand that was realistically very difficult to accept." He added, "Taking this situation into account, the representatives of the consultative body have decided to suspend official meetings for the time being and take a hiatus."

Lee said, "There is no agreed date to resume meetings," and "During the hiatus, the government and the ruling party will continue to engage in dialogue with the medical community."

The consultative body held four plenary meetings up to this day, but failed to narrow the differences between the medical community and the government over the core issue of medical school quotas.

Lee Jin-woo, president of the Korean Medical Association who participated as a representative of the medical community, said, "We confirmed that further consultations are meaningless and that the government and ruling party have no will to resolve this situation," adding, "The Korean Medical Association and KAMC have made the painful decision to withdraw from the consultative body."

The medical community proposed limiting the carryover of unfilled early admissions slots to regular admissions and reducing the number of waitlisted candidates for the 2025 medical school quotas, and suggested postponing decisions on the 2026 medical school quotas.

Lee said, "In this urgent reality, we earnestly requested the government to show even a little willingness to resolve the medical-government conflict through flexible policy decisions, but the government showed no flexibility whatsoever," and criticized, "The ruling party did not actively pressure the government or mediate to resolve the issue, which made us doubt their sincerity."

The government stated that it cannot accept the medical community’s proposal to adjust the 2025 medical school quota increase due to potential legal issues, and suggested discussing the 2026 quotas at the Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Forecasting Committee.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, said, "Regarding the 2025 admission quotas, since the admissions process is currently underway, any government action that causes confusion would impose a huge burden on examinees and the education field, so it is not possible."