Korean Prime Minister: "Future is bleak if medical collapse is neglected... Support for specialized hospitals with expertise"

Presiding over the Cabinet Meeting at the Government Seoul Office
Collective Action of Residents in 4th Week, Deep Regret
2035 Hospital Stay Days Up 45%...Urgent Need to Increase Medical School Admissions

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 12th, "If we once again neglect the current reality facing the crisis of the collapse of essential and local medical care, the future we will face will be even more desperate."

On the same day, during the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Prime Minister Han described the expansion of medical school quotas as an "unavoidable task."

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Han pointed out, "Twenty years ago, the medical community claimed there was no shortage of doctors and even demanded a reduction in medical school quotas," adding, "If more proactive measures had been taken then, the current reality where citizens wait months for surgery, wander hospitals in emergencies due to a lack of doctors, and waste 3 to 4 hours on the street for a 3-minute consultation would not have occurred."

He also explained that Korea’s aging rate will surge to 30% by 2030, and by 2035, the number of hospital admission days for our citizens will increase by more than 45%, necessitating more doctors. Prime Minister Han emphasized, "The number of hospital admission days for people aged 65 and over is 11 times that of those in their 30s and 40s," and added, "In Japan, where the aging rate reaches 30%, the average length of hospital stay per patient exceeds three times the OECD average, which proves this point."

He reiterated promises to improve the medical environment, including not only increasing medical school quotas but also implementing the four major essential medical policy packages, investing in regional medical care, establishing compensation systems to maintain essential medical services, and building a safety net for medical accidents.

Prime Minister Han also stated, "We will create a system where hospitals receive appropriate compensation based on their capabilities rather than their size, supporting the emergence of more specialized and strong small-to-medium-sized hospitals."

Visiting Myongji Seongmo Hospital, a cerebrovascular specialty hospital, the day before to respond to doctors' collective actions, Prime Minister Han received suggestions from the hospital and on-site medical staff and instructed related ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to consider raising fees for strong and specialized hospitals to resolve the contradiction where essential and regional medical care collapse, causing all citizens to visit the Big 5 hospitals, and to ensure that anyone can trust and visit their "local Big 5."

Currently, fee support is applied based on hospital size, with additional rates of 15% for tertiary general hospitals, 10% for general hospitals, 5% for hospitals, and 0% for clinics. Because of this, specialized hospitals receive lower fees than tertiary general hospitals despite providing the same treatment and high medical expertise, which has been criticized as unreasonable.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Prime Minister Han also criticized, "It has already been four weeks since residents left the medical field," and expressed deep regret that they are continuing illegal collective actions while ignoring the earnest appeals of the public and government.

He continued, "Thanks to the doctors, nurses, and staff at medical institutions who are protecting the medical field day and night, the emergency medical system focused on severe and emergency patients is being maintained relatively orderly. However, the workload of the remaining medical staff, nurses, and medical institution employees and the suffering of patients continue to increase," emphasizing, "The government will mobilize all available resources to protect the lives of the people and the medical staff who are fulfilling their duties beside the patients."

Furthermore, he appealed, "Medical professionals, patients meet you at the most desperate moments in their lives. If you are not at the hospital at that moment, patients' lives can collapse in an instant," and earnestly requested, "Please return quickly to the patients who are anxiously waiting for you."

Meanwhile, at the Cabinet meeting that day, Prime Minister Han approved a proposal to increase the legal capital of the Export-Import Bank from the existing 15 trillion won to 25 trillion won. This is to timely support the overseas expansion, exports, and orders of Korean companies in semiconductors, automobiles, defense, infrastructure, nuclear power, and more. Prime Minister Han stated, "To fundamentally enhance the growth potential of our economy, which is highly dependent on foreign trade, we must expand the economic playing field where our companies can compete."

The follow-up measures to the 19 livelihood discussion meetings recently held by President Yoon Suk-yeol were also addressed. Prime Minister Han introduced, "At today's Cabinet meeting, a plan to support more young people to join the Youth Leap Account, which offers higher interest rates than market rates to help young people accumulate large sums, will be reported," adding, "The relaxed household income criteria promised at the livelihood discussion meetings will be applied immediately, and young people fulfilling military service with only military pay will be able to join the Youth Leap Account starting at the end of this month." He also emphasized the speedy promotion of policies such as expanding national scholarship support, tax exemption for corporate childbirth support funds, and advance payment systems for single-parent family childcare expenses.

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