[The Editors' Verdict] Doctors Cannot Stand Above the People

"A complete or decisive victory for the medical community." This was the assessment following the agreement between the government, ruling party, and the Korean Medical Association (KMA) on September 4, 2020. It was an event that gave doctors another victorious memory from four years ago. The negotiation process was dramatic.

The ruling party’s agreement document was delivered to the KMA in the early morning hours. Afterwards, the wording revision took more than four hours. The signing ceremony for the agreement was repeatedly postponed?from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., then to 1 p.m. When the KMA president did not appear on site, the government at the time anxiously waited for him. Ultimately, the signing ceremony between the Minister of Health and Welfare and the KMA president took place only at 2:30 p.m.

With this agreement, the medical community’s collective strike and the boycott of the national medical licensing exam by medical students moved toward resolution. Although the government and ruling party sought an agreement, there was internal conflict among doctors over signing the agreement. Dozens of residents even engaged in physical altercations in front of the signing ceremony to block the signing but were dragged away. Up to this point, it seemed the government and ruling party’s intended outcome had been realized.

So why was it still regarded as a complete victory for the medical community? One of the core issues?the expansion of medical school quotas?was nullified. Although it was agreed to suspend discussions on increasing medical school quotas until the COVID-19 situation stabilized, it was a promise without a definite timeline. Regarding this key issue that sparked the medical community’s backlash, the government was effectively defeated.

On the 19th, a view of a university hospital in Seoul. Some residents in certain departments, including the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents at Severance Hospital, decided to stop working and submitted their resignations a day earlier. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

At the time, the Blue House expressed its welcome by conveying the president’s gratitude, saying, "We repeatedly express our thanks to the doctors who protect the frontlines of medical care," but external evaluations were different. "In their rush to end the strike, they engaged in premature negotiations excluding the public, ultimately committing the mistake of handing over full policy authority to the medical organizations." This statement from the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice explains why the government is judged to have been completely defeated.

The reason for this outcome shows that doctors held the upper hand during the negotiation phase. The government’s recognition that it had to somehow prevent a medical collapse amid the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis exposed its powerless position against the collective actions of the medical community. Although public opinion at the time heavily criticized the medical community’s selfishness, the doctors did not yield and ultimately achieved their desired results.

In February 2024, doctors again took collective action. Once again, the expansion of medical school quotas is the core issue. On the 22nd, it marked the third day since residents left hospitals. Patients are suffering severe pain as hospital treatments and even surgeries are postponed. Cancer patients pleaded, "Please come back," appealing for a return to the medical field.

The government declared it would conduct arrest investigations of the ringleaders and behind-the-scenes forces refusing to return to hospitals. The government’s firm stance on responding strictly to this situation is the right choice. It cannot tolerate actions that exceed the bounds of the law simply because the profession deals with public health.

The perception that doctors win if they hold out?the harmful legacy of this mindset?must now be broken. Of course, the longer the medical paralysis continues, the more pressure the government will face to urgently resolve the situation. However, it must be remembered that if the government compromises without upholding principles, the situation will be no different from that of 2020.

The public expects the government to steadfastly uphold principles so that no group can stand above the people.

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