KMA: "Punishing Professors Who Intend to Resign Threatens Medical Survival... Government Must Engage in Dialogue"

"Must Listen to Professors' Voices as the Last Support for Essential Medical Care"
"Government Lacks Academic Basis for Medical School Expansion... Focused Only on Advertising"

The medical community has demanded dialogue with the government, warning that if medical school professors who have expressed their intention to resign are treated the same as residents, the existence of the Korean medical system will be at risk.

The Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Association held a regular briefing at 2 p.m. on the 12th at the KMA Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and made this statement. Joo Su-ho, the KMA Emergency Committee's Public Relations Officer, said, "Including Ulsan Medical School, where the faculty meeting resolved to submit resignation letters, professors at other training hospitals have also expressed their intention to act in solidarity with medical students and residents," adding, "Furthermore, many medical schools such as Chung-Ang Medical School, Catholic Medical School, Dankook Medical School, Inje Medical School, and Ajou Medical School have issued statements declaring that if legal actions are taken against residents, professors will submit their resignation letters as a strong protest."

He continued, "If the government forcibly suspends residents' licenses, the possibility of residents returning to hospitals will completely disappear, and training hospitals in South Korea will vanish," adding, "If such a situation occurs, all 140,000 doctors in South Korea, including medical school professors, will follow the same path as the residents."

He also argued that if the government punishes professors who have expressed their intention to resign, the collapse of the medical system is a concern. Joo said, "The government has announced that it will again issue various orders, including medical service maintenance orders and work commencement orders, to medical school professors in the same manner as it did to residents," adding, "If the government commits such a mistake, the Korean medical system, which can no longer return to the past, will not only fail to recover but will become impossible to sustain."

He further suggested that the government should listen to the voices of medical school professors. He said, "The government must stop its reckless actions to prevent the catastrophe of Korean healthcare. It must listen to the medical community's voices, especially those of professors who are the last pillar of essential medical care and medical education in Korea," adding, "There is little time left. By next week, residents' resignation letters will be automatically accepted under civil law, and they will completely leave to seek a new future. This trend cannot be stopped unless the government changes its attitude."

Criticism was also raised that the government is focusing only on advertising rather than presenting academic grounds for expanding medical school quotas by 2,000 students. Joo said, "The government has failed to properly present academic evidence proving that increasing medical school quotas and promoting essential medical policy packages are reasonable policies," adding, "As the government cannot provide academic grounds to justify the policy, it has completely avoided mentioning this issue."

He continued, "As public opinion and media tone have increasingly turned unfavorable, the government is recklessly using taxpayers' money to reverse this," pointing out, "Almost all daily newspapers and even personal blogs are flooded with government advertisements, and the government is advertising its aggressively promoted policies under the name of 'medical reform' across all media, including radio, TV, public transportation, and outdoor advertising."

He also demanded sincere dialogue with the government. He said, "The KMA Emergency Committee has repeatedly appealed to the government to stop pushing unreasonable policies and to engage in dialogue. However, the government has firmly stated that it will not withdraw the policy but has said it is always willing to talk," adding, "Dialogue conducted without accepting any preconditions is not dialogue but a mere formality forcing acceptance of the policy. We demand sincere dialogue through a genuine change in the government's attitude."

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