Doctors reject participation in gov’t-led consultative body amid standoff over medical school quota hike plan

Doctors and medical professors announced a decision Friday not to join a consultative body proposed by the government and the ruling party to resolve the monthslong medical standoff, saying that it is “premature” to do so unless the government changes its course.

Earlier this month, the government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) proposed the establishment of a joint consultative body involving rival parties and the medical community to discuss the government’s medical reform plan that centers on raising the medical school admission quota to around 2,000 annually for the next five years or so.

The plan faced fierce opposition from doctors, and most of South Korea’s 13,000 trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February, causing serious disruptions to the national health care system.

“At a time when the government has maintained its stance, it is premature for us to take part in the consultative body,” Choi An-na, a spokesperson of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), said in a press briefing.

“If the government wants a dialogue, it should stop the probe regarding the mass resignation by trainee doctors and stop pushing for the quota hike plan for 2025,” she said, calling for in-depth discussions to determine the possible quota adjustment.

The statement was issued jointly by the KMA, the national medical school professors’ council and six other groups of doctors.

The KMA has demanded the government cancel its plan to raise the medical school admissions quota for 2025 and 2026 and discuss the possible quota adjustment for 2027 or afterward.

Though the PPP and the government have said they can have talks with the medical circle on all possible options, the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol said it is practically impossible to withdraw the hike plan for next year.

The government finalized in June a quota hike of some 1,500 students for next year, and due college entrance procedures have already begun.

“If the government goes ahead with the quota increase plan for 2025, schools have to teach 7,500 students under the circumstances for educating around 3,000 students. It will cause confusion for the next 30 years,” Choi said.

In response to the latest statement by doctors, PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho voiced regrets, while stressing that “the door for dialogue still remains open.”

“(Doctors) have repeatedly said about what they can never accept. Rather than refusing dialogue, I hope the ruling, opposition parties, doctors and the government gather together and find a good solution,” Choo told reporters.

With no signs of progress in talks between the government and doctors, concerns are mounting over a deeper crisis, particularly during the Chuseok holiday.

Hospitals have been forced to cut back on surgeries, outpatient treatment services and emergency room operations.

The government has dispatched military and public doctors to emergency care centers and run a task force in charge of monitoring and handling the national emergency care system.

It has also decided to markedly raise the payment by patients for emergency care services during the holiday if they visit hospital ERs with mild cases.