"Party, Government, and Medical Sector's Secret Deals on Medical Policy... Civic Groups Condemn Abandonment of Public Healthcare"

177 Civic Groups Hold Press Conference in Front of Cheongwadae
"Government, Ruling Party, and KMA Declare Abandonment of Public Healthcare Reform"

Representatives of civic groups such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Health and Medical Workers' Union are shouting slogans at a press conference condemning the secret deal to abandon public healthcare held on the 4th in front of the fountain at the Blue House in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] On the 4th, civil society organizations collectively criticized the agreement reached between the Democratic Party of Korea, the government, and the medical community regarding healthcare policy as a "secret deal abandoning public healthcare." They argued that since healthcare policy is directly linked to the people's right to health, the voices of civil society, as well as the medical community, must be actively reflected in efforts to expand public healthcare going forward.

On the 4th, 177 labor and civic groups, including the Civil Society Organizations Coalition, held a press conference in front of the Blue House after news of the agreement between the ruling party, government, and the Korean Medical Association was announced. In a statement issued under the coalition's name, they said, "In the face of an unprecedented infectious disease crisis threatening citizens' safety and the urgent need to expand medical personnel and reform public healthcare, we strongly condemn the ruling party and government for surrendering without making any progress in public healthcare reform."

They also criticized the Korean Medical Association, which represented the medical community in the agreement, stating, "While the entire society is making sacrifices and enduring hardships with all-out efforts, the doctors' organization abandoned citizens' lives and safety and engaged in unethical collective strikes to protect their vested interests," and added, "They obstructed the expansion of medical publicness and derailed reform discussions to protect their own interests."

On the 4th, after all-night negotiations between the government ruling party and the medical community, an agreement was reached on policies to expand public healthcare. At Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, a visitor is looking at a promotional poster opposing government medical policies set up by the Resident Doctors' Council. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The medical community has opposed a series of government policies, including the establishment of public medical schools, expansion of medical school quotas, pilot projects for herbal medicine coverage, and promotion of telemedicine. Centered around doctors' organizations, this opposition escalated to general strikes and collective work stoppages. In response to demands from the medical community to withdraw these policies, the government and ruling party agreed on the 4th to reconsider them from scratch. Civil society organizations have criticized the government and ruling party for lacking the will to properly expand public healthcare and the medical community for resorting to treatment suspensions that threatened emergency and critical patients.

Lee Tae-ho, operating committee member of the Civil Society Organizations Coalition, said, "The expansion of medical personnel and public healthcare reform is more urgent than ever," adding, "Nevertheless, the government presented insufficient measures regarding medical school quotas, which raised public concerns, but even those were scrapped through secret negotiations between the government, ruling party, and the Korean Medical Association."

Lee Bora, co-representative of the Association of Doctors for Humanism, said, "The government has long neglected the private-centered medical system, attempting to regulate it partially through health insurance or laws, but has reached its limits," and added, "By almost completely leaving hospital establishment and operation unchecked, it created a doctors' group that boldly went on strike during the COVID-19 crisis and declared anti-government struggles by rejecting any negotiation proposals."

On the 11th, members of the Health and Medical Workers' Union are holding a campaign demanding the expansion of public healthcare in front of the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

She urged, "The government must reflect on neglecting public healthcare to avoid being led by the Korean Medical Association any longer and, starting now, work together with civil society organizations to expand public hospitals, increase public medical personnel, and strengthen the public healthcare system."

Lee Chan-jin, executive committee member of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, said, "The agreement between the Korean Medical Association, ruling party, and government on public healthcare expansion policies is a 'secret collusion,'" and added, "The government must heed the solemn mandate of the sovereign people to expand public healthcare, reflect comprehensive project budgets for public healthcare expansion starting with this year's budget, and immediately begin normalizing public healthcare."

Park Min-sook, vice chairperson of the Health and Medical Workers' Union, said, "The issue of expanding medical personnel goes beyond the doctors' group and affects the people's right to health and overall healthcare policy," and argued, "While the opinions of the parties involved must be fully respected, the issue of staffing in professions providing public services must undergo social discussion together with the public."

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