KMA Emergency Committee: "Government Must Keep 2020 Promise"... Urges Policy Reassessment (Comprehensive)

Nationwide Doctors' Representatives Expanded Meeting Held on the 25th
"Medical School Expansion Policy Must Be Promoted in Agreement with the Medical Community"

Representatives of medical associations from across the country and local organizations urged to uphold the agreement made with the medical community in 2020 to implement policies accordingly.

On the afternoon of the 25th at 2 PM, participants of the National Doctors' Representatives Expanded Meeting held at the Korean Medical Association Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, are chanting slogans before the meeting./Photo by Tae-won Choi peaceful1@

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) Emergency Response Committee held an 'Expanded Meeting of National Medical Representatives' at 2 p.m. on the 25th at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The meeting was attended by members of the KMA Emergency Committee, presidents of city and provincial medical associations, various regional medical associations, the Korean Public Health Doctors Association, and the Korean Interns and Residents Association. Immediately after the meeting, they issued a 'Resolution Opposing the Increase of Medical School Quotas,' stating, "Do not unilaterally enforce the policy to increase medical school quotas. Uphold the 2020 agreement made with the medical community and the public to implement policies through consensus."

They argued that expanding medical school quotas cannot solve issues in essential medical services, stating, "Medical representatives strongly oppose the government's hasty plan to increase medical school quotas by 2,000 and the unreasonable essential medical policy package. Considering the characteristics of essential medical fields, it cannot be guaranteed that the increased number of doctors will flow into essential and regional medical services."

Regarding the essential medical package, they also criticized it as "a flawed policy that restricts the public's freedom of medical choice and focuses solely on controlling medical costs, including the phased introduction of licensing linked to clinical training, the implementation of a system to verify doctors' treatment appropriateness, prohibition of mixed non-reimbursable treatments, reform of payment systems, and expansion of qualifications for non-experts to perform cosmetic medical procedures."

The Emergency Committee also urged the government to reconsider the policy from scratch with flexibility. Joo Suho, the KMA Emergency Committee's Public Relations Officer, told reporters after the meeting, "If the government does not listen despite our willingness, we will have no choice but to take a dead-end path. The medical community wants to engage in dialogue, but the government maintains an uncompromising stance on the 2,000-person increase."

Before the meeting, Kim Taek-woo, a member of the KMA Emergency Committee, stated in his opening remarks, "The three papers that argued the validity of the quota increase have been revealed to be so flawed that the entire nation can recognize it. We believe that the goal of our 130,000 doctors is to have the flawed policy reconsidered from the beginning." Park Sung-min, chairman of the KMA General Assembly, also appealed, "All medical professionals want to stay by their patients' side. Please set aside prejudices and listen to us at least once about why young residents are giving up on the medical profession they once considered their calling, and why students are abandoning their studies to become doctors they so desperately desire."

Meanwhile, immediately after the Expanded Meeting of National Medical Representatives, the KMA Emergency Committee led a street march from the KMA headquarters to the Yongsan Presidential Office.

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