[The Editors' Verdict] Medical and Government Communities Lost in a Vacuum

The power struggle between the government and the medical community has gone beyond parallel lines, with the distance between them growing ever wider. Both sides seem increasingly inclined to simply let time pass, fully aware that no sharp solution will be found under the current administration. The card played by Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, suggesting that next year’s medical school quota could be frozen at the pre-increase level of 3,058, may have momentarily caught the public’s attention by evoking an image completely opposite to the word "increase," but it was far from serving as a turning point in the situation.

The issue of next year’s quota is important to both the government and the medical community, but it is neither the only nor the decisive hurdle. Nevertheless, if we look closely, the medical community’s position is that, considering the previous increase, the minimum prerequisite for any agreement next year should be a reduction in the quota, whether or not further dialogue follows. Moreover, the medical school deans who reportedly conveyed this idea from Deputy Minister Lee are entangled in different interests from those of the medical community, making their significance questionable.

Regardless of right or wrong, there is no way Deputy Minister Lee was unaware of this context. Various circumstances suggesting that he did not consult or coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which stands at the center of the issue, raise further questions. At such a critical moment, with the first semester of the 2025 academic year just around the corner, adopting such a clumsy, purely administrative and mechanical approach indicates either a weaker-than-expected will to resolve the issue or an acknowledgment that finding a consensus during his tenure is impossible.

The Korea Medical Association (KMA), representing the medical community, has responded by essentially not responding at all. From the KMA’s perspective, this might be a shrewd tactic. Voices within the medical community, as reported by this publication, can be summarized as follows: ▲ The proposal cannot be regarded as an official offer to the medical sector ▲ The initial announcement of the medical school quota increase itself broke trust, making further belief difficult ▲ An explanation of the education plan for the 2024 and 2025 medical school cohorts should come first. If there were any genuine intention to resolve the current crisis, these reasons would be legitimate. There are certainly progressive voices within the medical community, including among resident doctors who have resigned. The KMA leadership is well aware that unnecessary public debate could disrupt their unity.

Resident doctors have not returned for two years. As of the 25th of last month, none of the ten medical schools nationwide had a single student from the first to fourth years of the pre-medical course registering for classes. Some universities have responded by delaying the start of the semester by several weeks, but this is meaningless. Meanwhile, the government plans to proceed with various policy measures prepared under the banner of medical reform. Both sides seem determined to continue down a path that only widens the gap between them. Outwardly resolute, this is actually an easy choice.

The government has posed an extremely difficult problem, but with leadership lost, there is no grip to be held even at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister or Minister. The medical community has little reason to voluntarily resolve the crisis. This irresponsible vacuum is likely to persist at least until the outcome of the presidential impeachment trial is announced, and if the president is removed, until a new government takes office. This dreadful timetable is the real tragedy.

Practically, the only hope lies with the Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee (the Estimation Committee). The problem is that the Estimation Committee is also facing numerous challenges, and the immediate hurdle is the controversy over its lack of independence, as it is placed directly under the Minister of Health and Welfare. If the ruling and opposition parties, as well as government and medical representatives, fail to resolve this issue through political imagination and negotiation, the suffering borne by the entire country and its citizens will inevitably increase.