Ruling Party Meets with Residents, Agrees on Addressing Training Environment and Other Key Issues

Park Jumin, Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee: "Continued Discussions to Resolve the Situation"
Residents: "Improvements Needed in Training Environment and Mitigation of Legal Risks"

The Democratic Party of Korea, after meeting with the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), a group representing medical residents, announced that they had reached a consensus to address both immediate issues, such as improving the training environment for residents, and long-term challenges together.

Yonhap News Agency

On July 14, members of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party met with KIRA at the National Assembly in Yeouido to hold a discussion aimed at rebuilding critical and core medical care. Park Jumin, Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee, stated in a briefing, "During the closed-door portion of the meeting, we primarily addressed the difficulties faced on the front lines of critical care and discussed policy measures for institutional improvements."

Chair Park added, "We agreed to continue discussions to resolve the situation for the sake of the public and patients." However, he clarified, "Specific topics such as the residents' demands or the timing of resuming training were not discussed."

The meeting was open to the public for the opening remarks and KIRA's presentation, and then continued behind closed doors for approximately one hour and ten minutes.

In his opening remarks, Chair Park said, "The biggest problem during the recent conflict was the breakdown of trust and communication. However, after meeting with the residents several times, I believe some trust has been restored. I hope we can continue our official dialogue and further strengthen this relationship of trust."

Han Sungjon, acting chair of KIRA's emergency committee, also stated, "I believe this meeting lays the foundation for rebuilding Korea's healthcare system together with the National Assembly. We will continue our discussions and deliberations toward the shared goal of better healthcare for both patients and the medical community." In its presentation, KIRA emphasized the need for improvements in the resident training environment and mitigation of legal risks related to medical accidents.

The conflict between the government and the medical community, which began during the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, is showing signs of resolution 17 months after the inauguration of the Lee Jaemyung administration.

Earlier, on July 12, Lee Sunwoo, acting chair of the Korean Medical Student Association (KMSA), a group representing medical students, issued a joint statement on normalizing medical education together with Chair Park of the relevant standing committee from the Democratic Party, Kim Youngho, Chair of the Education Committee, and Kim Taekwoo, President of the Korean Medical Association.

In its statement, KMSA said, "We will trust the National Assembly and the government, and with all students returning to school, we will work toward normalizing medical education and the healthcare system." However, they did not specify when the students would return.