Mentioning Lee Guk-jong: "His frustration is the frustration of healthcare"
Highlighting strengths as doctor, scientist, manager, and professor
Ahn: "I will accurately assess the field and propose practical solutions"
Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate for the People Power Party, quoted words reportedly said by Lee Guk-jong, director of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital, on the 17th, saying, "Science student Ahn Cheol-soo will end frustration."
On the same day, Ahn posted on Facebook, stating, "Words like clearing out deep-rooted evils, fairness, and common sense were abundant, but due to ignorance and incompetence regarding the field, state affairs drifted. Until now, we have chosen leaders who prioritize ideology and slogans over those who truly understand the field," he said.
On online communities, it has been spreading that Director Lee, on the 14th, mentioned to military medical officer candidates the conflicts in the medical field, structural problems in university hospitals, and how civil servants from liberal arts and politicians with legal backgrounds dominate policies, saying, "The Korean Peninsula is a country run by liberal arts guys who only talk," and "Never live like me. I worked hard in trauma surgery all my life, but nothing has changed; all I get in return is a dismissal notice."
Candidate Ahn wrote, "Thanks to Director Lee, 17 regional trauma centers were established nationwide, and the doctor helicopter system was introduced. However, 14 years later, he says 'nothing has changed, and a professor who worked with him passed away from overwork.' His frustration is the frustration of Korean healthcare and, more broadly, the Republic of Korea."
He also sharply criticized the government's medical policies. Ahn said, "The current government pushed through an unreasonable expansion of medical school quotas without understanding or communicating with the medical field," adding, "The 'trickle-down effect' logic that simply increasing medical school quotas would naturally bring medical personnel to rural and essential medical fields was extremely irresponsible and an insult to vital doctors."
He continued, "Korea's 'low-cost, high-efficiency' healthcare system, once envied worldwide, suffered a severe blow. It is estimated that over 10,000 victims who would not have died otherwise passed away, and more than 5 trillion won of national funds were wasted," emphasizing, "Despite this, essential medical doctors decreased, rural healthcare worsened, and new doctors dropped to less than one-tenth, resulting in the worst outcome in history. The consequences will continue for decades."
Regarding science and technology, he wrote, "Last year, the major science and technology R&D budget was halved, halting the development of core technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology, and science and engineering researchers packed up and left overseas," adding, "This is why self-deprecating remarks like 'leave Korea' and comments that 'liberal arts guys run everything' have emerged."
He said, "Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are both from science and engineering backgrounds and led their countries as science and technology-centered nations," emphasizing, "I, Ahn Cheol-soo, based on my experience as a doctor, scientist, manager, and professor, will accurately see the problems on the ground and propose practical solutions."
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