Government: "No Precedent for Expanding Quotas... Same Applies to Lawyers and Accountants"

"Due to Past Mistakes, Reform Is More Difficult"
"Medical Reform Must Be Completed to Prevent Repetition"

On the 14th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare firmly stated its position on the increase of medical school admissions by 2,000 students, responding to the medical community's demand to reconsider the scale of the increase, saying, "There has been no case of negotiating with a specific professional group over the quota issue."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said at a briefing of the 'Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) for Doctors' Collective Action' held at the Government Seoul Office that morning, addressing medical school professors who had announced plans for collective resignation, "Now is the time to persuade residents who have left patients to return to the medical field."

Vice Minister Park said, "Protecting patients' lives is a professional and ethical calling as a doctor, as well as a legal duty," adding, "Endangering patients' lives cannot be a way to protect one's disciples."

He continued, "The government has never negotiated with a specific professional group over the quota issue," and added, "The same applies to lawyers, accountants, pharmacists, and nurses." He further stated, "We cannot accept proposals that suggest 'if we do not negotiate, patients' lives will be endangered'."

Earlier, the Emergency Committee of the Seoul National University College of Medicine Professors' Association proposed to the government, "Do not fix the number of doctors at 2,000, and instead form a dialogue consultative body on the premise that an increase is possible."

Vice Minister Park said, "Medical reform, including increasing the number of doctors, is a constitutional duty and a policy decision to protect the lives and health of the people," adding, "Although medical reform is a matter for which the government bears final responsibility and decision-making, it has repeatedly failed due to being pushed aside by specific professional groups."

He added, "Due to past mistakes of reducing the number of doctors under pressure from professional groups at a time when the number of doctors should have been increased, the current reform is more difficult," and said, "This time, we will definitely complete medical reform to protect the lives and health of the people and to avoid repeating past mistakes."

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