South Korean president proposes talks with doctors amid medical crisis

The 50-minute address to the nation, broadcast live from the presidential office, came as South Korean officials called for flexibility in handling medical strikes amid the upcoming general election, Yonhap reported on April 1.

Many proposals for removal

Mr. Yoon said the 2,000 figure was the minimum increase that the government came up with through careful calculations and extensive consultation with the medical community, including many doctor groups. "If the medical community wants to discuss reducing the quota for medical schools, they should only make a unified, well-founded and scientific proposal to the government, not take collective action. If they come up with a more reasonable solution, we can discuss it at any time," Mr. Yoon said.

Mr. Yoon expressed that even if the number of doctors increased by 2,000, it would take 10 years for doctors to be qualified to join the medical team. Currently, there are 115,000 doctors in the country. If the number increases by 2,000 people each year, by 2045, there will only be 20,000 more doctors.

President Yoon Suk Yeol's speech broadcast live on April 1, 2024

The healthcare reform plan is for the people of South Korea, and aims to improve essential and local medical services so that people can receive treatment anywhere in the country, Mr. Yoon stressed. The South Korean government has tried to increase medical school enrollment quotas for the past 27 years but has failed. "We can no longer afford to repeat such failures," Mr. Yoon said.

Amid concerns that doctors' incomes will decline in the future, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol said that will not happen. South Korea is addressing this issue by promising a 10 trillion won investment package to compensate medical practitioners.

At the same time, he explained that the number of doctors will increase by 20,000 in the next 20 years, but people's income and health care needs will also increase due to the rapidly aging population. In addition, this money will also establish a safe legal system to better protect doctors from excessive medical malpractice lawsuits.

More than 12,000 interns and residents in South Korea have been on strike at general hospitals across the country for the past month to protest against the quota increase. They say the increase in medical school enrollment will affect the quality of education and medical services, and lead to a surplus of doctors. Instead, the medical workers have proposed raising salaries for specialists and improving the legal framework for medical malpractice lawsuits.

The crisis continues

Several emergency departments at major hospitals have been turning away patients or reducing procedures since April 1, as medical professors at major hospitals have announced they will reduce their working hours due to fatigue from taking on the many tasks left by departing interns. Earlier, a series of leading professors at most of the 40 medical schools nationwide began submitting their resignations last week.

Doctors take part in a protest against the government's plan to increase medical school enrollment in Seoul on March 3, 2024.

According to the National Emergency Medical Center, the emergency department at Asan Medical Center, one of Seoul's five major general hospitals, has announced that it is unable to treat stroke patients. Another major hospital in Seoul, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, has announced that its emergency room cannot accept non-critical patients.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said he had made every effort to refute accusations that the government had not consulted the medical community by listing the dates and number of meetings with the doctors' groups and naming the groups involved. At the same time, Mr. Yoon said the doctors' groups did not propose a specific increase in the enrollment quota, but merely repeated their argument that there was no shortage of doctors.

Mr. Yoon called on trainee doctors to return to work, noting that relevant procedures were underway to punish those who refused to comply with the order.

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