KMA: "Government's Call for 'Dialogue' Without Reversing Medical School Expansion Is a Show"

"To Show Authenticity, Preconditions Must Be Resolved First"

The medical community criticized the government's attitude of unilaterally pushing for dialogue without resolving the preconditions.

Joo Suho, Chairman of the Emergency Response Committee Public Relations Committee of the Korean Medical Association. / Photo by Choi Taewon peaceful1@

The Korean Medical Association Emergency Response Committee held a regular briefing on the 29th at the KMA Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and stated this. Joo Suho, the KMA Emergency Response Committee's Media and Public Relations Officer, said, "Park Minsu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, sent a text message to the residents today (29th) at 4 p.m., saying he would wait in Yeouido and wanted to meet for a dialogue." However, he added, "There was no mention of withdrawing the package policy to increase medical school quotas and essential medical services, which was the main reason residents submitted resignation letters and gave up their medical duties. Also, there was no clarification on whether the seven demands previously stated by the residents were being considered."

He continued, "Since the preconditions for dialogue have not been resolved at all, no one will respond just because they say 'let's talk.' This is merely a show to appear as if they are attempting dialogue. If they truly want to show sincerity in resolving the situation, they must first resolve the preconditions," he added.

There were also suspicions that the government pressured training hospitals to send forced appointment texts. He said, "When various orders had no effect, it seems the government pressured training hospitals nationwide to send forced appointment texts to interns and residents who had given up their appointments. Since it is unlikely that individual hospitals came up with such an extralegal idea on their own, it can only be seen as government pressure."

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