Former Medical Association President: "Medical Crisis Just Beginning... President Yoon and Ruling Party Will Face Defeat"

Noh Hwan-gyu, Former President of the Korean Medical Association
Outlook on the Future Medical Crisis Situation

Former Korean Medical Association President Roh Hwan-gyu, who maintains the stance that "the government cannot defeat doctors," posted a message expressing that "even if the situation is resolved, residents who have fallen into disillusionment will not return."

On the 30th, former President Roh wrote on Facebook under the title "Medical Crisis, Future Prospects," stating, "In cases where employees resign, they are not legally subject to the government's order to commence work," and added, "The government viewed the mass resignation of residents as a kind of strike and employed coercive measures, but the residents actually had the intention to resign and submitted their resignation letters." The reason given was that "under the medical system that would be faced if the 필정패 (Essential Medical Policy Package) is implemented, practicing medicine felt meaningless."

He also expressed indignation, saying, "The government created public opinion about a shortage of doctors by using terms like 'pediatric open run' and 'emergency room roundabout' through various media," and claimed, "The Presidential Office pulled out the card of increasing medical school quotas for political purposes, and the government needed to justify the expansion of medical schools. They mobilized left-wing scholars and media who had been advocating for medical school expansion since the Moon Jae-in administration to shape public opinion."

Former KMA President Noh Hwan-gyu [Image source=Yonhap News]

"The public came to believe that increasing medical school quotas was a way to improve medical accessibility and quality. This belief led to attacks on doctors opposing the expansion, viewing their resistance as 'defending their own interests by resisting public authority,'" he observed. "The demonization campaign against doctors, started to gain public opinion advantage, provoked greater backlash from doctors," and he argued, "The background to the mass resignation of residents and medical school professors largely lies in this 'demonization campaign against doctors.'"

He then asserted, "The medical crisis is still in its early stages and will not be resolved quickly," analyzing that "the current situation, where the president whose political fate is at stake and doctors committed to protecting the value of medicine are in conflict, makes early resolution prospects difficult." He added, "The initial rise in approval ratings for the president and ruling party following the announcement of the medical school quota issue has sharply declined and is rapidly going downhill," expressing confidence that "they will suffer a political defeat."

He firmly stated, "The idea that residents will return once the situation is resolved, as before, is a big misconception," and said, "Doctors, having realized that the 'demonization of doctors' campaign can easily sway the public, have developed a fundamental skepticism about their profession."

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