No Compromise on Medical School Expansion... Han Deok-su: "2000 is the Minimum Number, Focused Allocation to Non-Capital Regions"

Han Deok-su's National Address on Medical Reform
Increasing Quotas, Assigning to Non-Capital and Mini Medical Schools
Fostering Excellent Regional Hospitals... Encouraging Long-Term Regional Employment

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is delivering a statement on medical reform and the allocation of 2,000 medical school quotas at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. Attending the announcement were Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance; Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education; Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Interior and Safety; Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare; and Bang Ki-seon, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo emphasized once again in a public address on the 20th regarding medical reform that "a convenient compromise based on political gains and losses ultimately results in harm to the people," stating that the increase of 2,000 medical school admissions is the "minimum number." He announced that the increased admissions will be concentrated in medical schools outside the metropolitan area and in smaller medical schools.

Prime Minister Han delivered the public address at the Government Seoul Office. He said, "The day before yesterday, I visited Seoul Asan Medical Center with the President," and added, "At both Asan Medical Center and Seoul National University Hospital, doctors working in essential medical services have been striving passionately with a sense of duty despite the contradictions accumulated in the medical system over decades."

He continued, "The collective action by the medical community, which began in opposition to the increase in medical school admissions, is approaching one month," and emphasized, "During this time, the government has been fully maintaining the emergency medical system while making every effort to swiftly implement the promised medical reforms to the public."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Han Duck-soo: "Medical Reform Can No Longer Be Delayed"

Despite residents leaving hospitals and collective resignations of medical school professors in protest against the government's increase in medical school admissions, Prime Minister Han stressed that "medical reform to revive essential and regional healthcare is an urgent task that can no longer be postponed." He conveyed that there will be no compromise regarding the increase of 2,000 medical school admissions.

He referred to incidents such as a nurse at a Big 5 hospital collapsing from a cerebrovascular disease and dying because there was no surgeon available, and a teenage girl in Daegu who fell from a fourth-floor building and died in an ambulance because no emergency room would accept her, stating, "Even before the recent collective action by the medical community began, our citizens have long suffered inconvenience and pain due to pediatric department 'open runs' and traveling to the metropolitan area for treatment."

He added, "Considering various factors such as demographic changes, social changes, and medical advancements, we judged that without increasing the number of doctors, there is a fundamental limit to sufficiently providing medical services to the public."

According to the government, South Korea currently ranks second to last among OECD member countries in the number of clinical doctors per 1,000 people when including Korean medicine doctors, and last when excluding them. Studies by the Korea Development Institute (KDI), the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, and Seoul National University predict a shortage of 10,000 doctors by 2035.

Prime Minister Han set the increase at 2,000 considering educational conditions and regional medical realities, and emphasized that even if the increase starts next year, the educational environment of Korean medical schools can sufficiently accommodate it, complying not only with current legal standards but also with the accreditation criteria of the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation.

He said, "Currently, the regulation allows eight students per medical school professor, but the average across 40 medical schools nationwide is only 1.6 students per professor. Compared to overseas universities, the average class size in U.S. medical schools is 146, Germany 243, and the U.K. 221, whereas ours is 77. Even with an increase of 2,000 students, it would be 127 per class."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Increased 2,000 Admissions to Be Concentrated in Non-Metropolitan and Small Medical Schools

Prime Minister Han stated, "The increase of 2,000 admissions is the minimum number necessary to resolve the shortage of doctors," and reiterated that it is impossible to reconsider the increase from scratch or to compromise on a smaller scale as demanded by the medical community.

He mentioned the case from 2000 when, during the separation of drug prescribing and dispensing, the government, pressured by the medical community's opposition, reduced medical school admissions by 351, resulting in a failure to secure an additional 6,600 doctors to this day, and pointed out, "This is why the government must achieve the expansion of medical school admissions despite the current confusion and the suffering of the people."

Prime Minister Han said that the allocation of admissions by medical school reflects the government's strong will to revive regional healthcare.

He stated, "The increased 2,000 admissions will be concentrated in medical schools outside the metropolitan area, small medical schools, and regional medical schools that serve as regional base hospitals," and added, "We will also actively utilize regional talent selection for freshmen."

He further said, "In the case of Jeonnam, a metropolitan area without a medical school, if sufficient local opinions are gathered and applications are made according to procedures, the government will promptly review and proceed," and added, "Comprehensive government-wide support, including the recruitment of 1,000 new professors at national universities, will also be swiftly implemented."

He especially emphasized, "We will strengthen investment in regional healthcare and actively foster excellent regional hospitals," and added, "We will select local talent and establish various institutional measures to enable long-term work at regional medical institutions."

Prime Minister Han said that the Presidential Medical Reform Special Committee, which will begin operating next month, will serve as a forum to achieve the goals of medical reform, stating, "The government and the medical community will become true partners, gather opinions, resolve accumulated contradictions, so that the public becomes healthier and the medical community can develop further."

He requested that residents who have left hospital sites and medical students who have left classrooms return to patients and schools as soon as possible, and to medical school professors, he said, "Doctors pledge upon graduation from medical school to 'put the health and life of patients first,'" and urged, "Please call your students back to the patients so they can uphold this pledge."

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