South Korea's Yoon urges doctors to end impasse over trainees

President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol stated on Monday that his administration is willing to have discussions with medical professionals who disagree with his proposal to raise admissions to medical schools. However, he accused opponents of providing no workable solution to the country’s physician shortage.

Yoon made a first indication in a 50-minute speech to the nation that he was open to reaching a consensus on his proposed medical reforms, after the government’s demand for talks with striking physicians.

Yoon expressed regret for whatever trouble the continuing trainee doctor strike has caused, but he also charged the medical community of prioritising its personal profits over the general welfare of the people.

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“If you come up with a more proper and reasonable solution, we can discuss it as much as you want,” he said. “If you present better opinions and rational grounds, government policy can change for the better.”

More than 90% of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors have been staging walkouts since Feb. 20 in protest against the government’s plan to boost medical school admissions by 2,000 starting in 2025 from 3,000 now.

South Korea’s population of 52 million had 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people in 2022, far below the average of 3.7 for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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Previous governments have devised measures to tackle deepening shortages of doctors in essential services including paediatrics and emergency units, as well as clinics outside the greater Seoul area, but their efforts fell apart amid strong opposition from the medical sector.

Some medical professionals have said the Yoon administration had failed to consult in advance, and its plan would do little to fix the current situation including low pay for trainee doctors.

Yoon refuted several claims by doctors’ groups and highlighted why medical reform is imperative.

“After keeping a deafening silence over the government’s request to provide specific numbers for medical school quotas, the medical community is now throwing numbers like 350, 500 and 1,000 without any grounds,” he said.

“If they want to argue that the scale of the increase should be reduced, they should propose a unified idea with solid scientific evidence, rather than taking collective action.”