Democratic Party Meets with Korean Medical Association, Suggests Reconsidering from Zero State for Discussions

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Han Jeong-ae, Chair of the Policy Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Choi Dae-jip, President of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), held a private meeting on the afternoon of the 1st to discuss measures to resolve the medical community's collective strike (work stoppage). The medical community has set the condition for returning to work as the government formally withdrawing policies such as expanding medical school quotas and establishing public medical schools, and agreeing to renegotiate from scratch.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the meeting, Chair Han told reporters, “I mentioned that we can discuss the matter completely from zero,” suggesting a reconsideration from the starting point.

Chair Han said, “I explained to President Choi that we could form a special committee or consultative body within the National Assembly to openly discuss ways to resolve regional imbalances in healthcare, strengthen essential medical services, and expand public healthcare.”

He emphasized, “All decisions and resolutions of the medical organizations are made by the KMA president, so President Choi said he would take responsibility for this situation and resolve it, and he also said he does not want young doctors to be harmed.”

He added, “Since this is a matter to be resolved legislatively, I said it would be more appropriate to discuss it with the legislative branch or the party rather than through government consultations, and the president agreed with this.”

When asked by reporters, “Do you think the position of reconsidering from scratch is somewhat accepted?” President Choi replied, “What we are demanding is not only withdrawal and reconsideration from scratch but also involves multiple layers of issues such as public medical schools, herbal medicine coverage, and telemedicine, making the situation complex.”

He said, “We exchanged opinions on how sincerely and proactively we can discuss the withdrawal of proposed bills such as expanding medical school quotas, regional doctor systems, and establishing public medical schools, and reconsidering them from scratch,” but added, “There was no agreement or consensus reached on this matter today.”

Chair Han said, “There can be no disagreement on creating a discussion body within the National Assembly for consultation,” and added, “The part where consensus was formed is that President Choi will return and discuss with various organizations and then contact us again.”

Regarding the formalization of policy withdrawal and reconsideration, President Choi stated, “We have consistently insisted on withdrawal and renegotiation from scratch. We need to have further internal discussions on whether there is an expression that can sufficiently include such content.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.