Yoon Jae-ok: "Expanding the Number of Doctors Is Inevitable to Protect the People's Right to Health"

17th National Assembly Audit Countermeasure Meeting Yoon Jae-ok's Remarks
"Number of Doctors Frozen for 19 Years... Medical Community's Position Has Merit, But the Fundamental Premise Is Increasing Doctors"

Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said regarding the controversy over the expansion of medical school quotas, "Expanding the number of doctors is inevitable to protect the current and future health rights of the people."

At the National Assembly's National Audit Countermeasures Meeting held on the morning of the 17th, Yoon said, "Medical associations such as the Korean Medical Association have consistently opposed the government's policies to expand medical school quotas, and they are expressing opposition again this time," adding, "While the argument that the issue lies in distribution rather than numbers has some merit, considering the current medical service situation and future medical demand trends, it is very clear that expanding the quota is the fundamental premise for solving the problem."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the National Assembly's audit countermeasure meeting held on the 17th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He explained, "The medical school quota has been fixed at 3,058 since 2006 for a staggering 19 years. During that time, so-called 'emergency room rotation' death accidents have repeatedly occurred, and local healthcare is on the brink of collapse," adding, "Reviving local healthcare and essential medical fields such as pediatrics, surgery, and emergency medicine can only be resolved if the number of doctors increases beyond the current level."

He continued, "According to estimates by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, if the current trend continues, there will be a shortage of 27,532 doctors by 2035," and said, "Expanding the number of doctors is inevitable to protect the current and future health rights of the people."

Meanwhile, Yoon persuaded that the government is willing to discuss the demands made by medical associations. He said, "Improvements in essential medical service fees, alleviation of the burden of medical accidents, and better working conditions for residents, which the medical community currently demands, are always ready for discussion," and added, "I hope that this time, the government and the medical community can resolve issues through dialogue rather than strikes."

Earlier, the government has been broadly discussing plans to expand medical school quotas, including holding a high-level party-government meeting on the 15th. Although reports emerged that the quota expansion would exceed 1,000, the government and ruling party denied this. After the meeting on the same day, Yoon told reporters, "No specific (increase) numbers are being discussed," and drew a line, saying, "There have been cases where some media outlets reported fixed numbers, but that is not true."

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