Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun: "No Change in Government Position on Establishing Medical School in Jeonnam"

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok visited Mokpo City Medical Center, a COVID-19 quarantine site, on the 11th to encourage the staff. Photo by Jeonnam Province

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun stated that "there is no change in the government's policy or position" regarding the establishment of a medical school in the Jeonnam region.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 11th, Prime Minister Chung conducted an on-site inspection of Mokpo City Medical Center, an infectious disease-dedicated hospital where 24 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized.

At the site, Prime Minister Chung said, "The establishment of a medical school has not been reset to square one," and added, "Medical-government consultations are scheduled to begin soon, and there is no change in the government's policy or position."

He continued, "When consulting with the Korean Medical Association and other medical-related organizations, it was unnatural to say that there is no medical school in Jeonnam," and mentioned, "Of course, there should be a medical school in Jeonnam."

Jeonnam Province has been consistently requesting the government to establish a medical school in Jeonnam for over 30 years, and a groundbreaking opportunity was created in July when the government and ruling party announced plans to establish medical schools in areas without one.

However, after the Korean Medical Association raised issues with the government's expansion of medical school quotas and went on a collective strike, it was agreed in September between the ruling party, government, and medical community to discuss the expansion of medical school quotas in future medical-government consultative bodies.

A Jeonnam Province official said, "We will gather all our capabilities to realize the establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam, which is the wish of the residents," and added, "In particular, we will do our best to secure more than 100 students so that the benefits of establishing a medical school can be evenly distributed to residents, and both the eastern and western regions of Jeonnam can have medical schools and university hospitals."

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