Minju on Yoon's National Address: "A Government Obsessed with Numbers and Lacking Communication"

Yoon: "Increasing Doctors, a Task That Can No Longer Be Delayed"
Spokesperson Shin Hyun-myeong: "Must Let Go of Obsession with 2,000 Additional Doctors"
"Doctors Cannot Defeat the People, and the Government Is the Same"

The Democratic Party of Korea issued a statement saying that President Yoon Suk-yeol's dismissal of the possibility of adjusting the medical school enrollment increase by 2,000 confirms that his administration is "a regime that pays no heed." On the morning of the 1st, President Yoon announced at the Yongsan Presidential Office in a national address titled 'A Message to the People' that the plan to increase medical school enrollment would proceed without change.

Shin Hyun-young, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, criticized, "Today's address, which lasted nearly an hour with only unilateral claims and without any journalists present, is exactly the image of the 'Yoon Suk-yeol's uncommunicative regime'." She pointed out, "Criticism is mounting even within the ruling party against the president's stubbornness and the government's obstinacy," adding, "As the controversy over the 2,000 medical school enrollment increase triggered by the government deepens confusion and gaps in the medical field, the damage is borne entirely by patients and the public."

On the 1st, amid the prolonged medical-government conflict over the plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students, citizens at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, are watching President Yoon Seok-yeol's national address regarding healthcare reform. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Spokesperson Shin emphasized, "Doctors cannot defeat the people, and neither can the president and the government," and added, "President Yoon is fixated on the number 2,000." She continued, "By repeatedly presenting data and evidence favorable to the government, they are accelerating the collapse of essential medical care," and assessed, "The politics of dialogue, compromise, and conflict resolution have disappeared." She further stated, "A reasonable increase plan that considers the conditions on the ground to prevent substandard medical schools and education must be prepared to persuade the medical community and engage in dialogue."

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee, also expressed regret over President Yoon's address. In the afternoon, Kang said, "Today, President Yoon Suk-yeol once again chose a national address format instead of a press conference for a major national issue," and sharply criticized, "I express regret over the unilateral 50-minute self-praise." He added, "This is the third address following the Itaewon tragedy in October 2022 and the failure to host the Busan World Expo last November," and fiercely attacked, "Today's address was filled entirely with arrogance, stubbornness, and blaming others."

Kang Min-seok, Spokesperson for the Democratic Party Election Countermeasures Committee [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Democratic Party had urged the government at the situation room level to present measures to address the medical crisis. On the 26th of last month, Kim Min-seok, head of the situation room, mentioned at the Democratic Party's Election Committee headquarters meeting, "Although Han Dong-hoon, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, stepped forward, nothing has changed and the situation is worsening." He said, "Because the government approaches this as an election issue without deep understanding of the content, the limitations are clear," adding, "Even the Medical Professors' Association evaluated their meeting with Chairman Han as hollow and lacking substance, so progress is hard to expect." He urged, "We call for a sincere attitude and reasonable solutions from the government and ruling party to prevent the medical crisis while resolving the medical school enrollment issue."

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