Opening Statement by Welfare Minister Nominee at Confirmation Hearing
Determination to Resolve Prolonged Government-Medical Association Conflicts and Other Pending Issues
Jeong Eunkyung, nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, stated, "I will pursue people-centered healthcare reform that both the public and the medical community can agree on, in order to secure the sustainability of the healthcare system."
Jeong Eunkyung, nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, is speaking at the confirmation hearing held on the 18th at the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
In her opening remarks at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 18th, Jeong said, "I will introduce a Healthcare Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee to implement a scientific estimation of the appropriate workforce size."
She explained, "We will ensure a stable supply of regional, essential, and public healthcare personnel and provide sufficient compensation. We will also transfer the operation of national university hospitals to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and foster them as control towers for public and essential healthcare in local areas."
She added, "We will institutionalize telemedicine in a way that guarantees both patient safety and convenience. We will establish a primary healthcare system based in local communities and alleviate the medical expenses for patients with rare and intractable diseases."
Jeong stated, "Slowing economic growth, deepening polarization, rapid demographic changes, the crisis in essential and public healthcare, and the technological revolution driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are fundamentally changing the policy environment for health and welfare. In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare faces a host of urgent issues, including prolonged conflicts between the government and medical associations, increased demand for care due to the entry into a super-aged society, the world's highest rates of elderly poverty and suicide, among others."
She also expressed her intention to gradually expand child allowances, enhance the substance of the National and Basic Pension systems, strengthen the basic livelihood security system, expand sickness benefits, establish customized loneliness response systems for different groups such as youth and middle-aged adults, and expand integrated medical, nursing, and care support services nationwide.
She also promised to gradually apply health insurance coverage to nursing hospital caregiving costs, expand customized services for people with disabilities, establish a state-centered adoption system, strengthen suicide prevention policies, expand public job opportunities for seniors, enhance support for infertility and pregnant women, and increase investment in health and medical research and development (R&D).
Regarding pension reform, she said, "I will actively participate in discussions of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Pension Reform, including the establishment of a multi-layered retirement income security system, so that the first pension reform in 18 years can be more effective."
Jeong emphasized, "Over the past 30 years, I have worked as a physician, healthcare administrator, and researcher, being on the front lines of healthcare practice and policy. If given the opportunity, I will closely communicate with experts in each field, gather opinions from the field, and seek rational alternatives for health and welfare policies."
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