Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Doctors begin vote on collective action against gov't plan to expand medical school quota
Members of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) talk at its headquarters in Seoul as the 140,000-member group begins a vote on whether to stage a walkout in protest of a government plan to increase the enrollment quota at medical schools to tackle the nationwide shortage of physicians, Monday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Tensions between doctors and the government over a plan to increase the medical school quota reached another level, Monday, as the doctors' group began an in-house vote on whether to hold another massive strike to protest the government’s plan.
In that respect, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a level 1 alert in its four-tier system to closely monitor the medical workforce shortage and prevent disruptions in medical services.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA) began the vote on collective action on Monday, to run until Sunday, aimed at pushing back against the government’s imminent plan to increase the enrollment quota at medical schools so as to tackle the shortage of physicians in various medical specialties and a deepening regional disparity in medical resources.
If the collective action were to go ahead, it would result in nationwide strikes at hospitals and medical institutions, which violates the Medical Service Act.
Under the Medical Service Act, health authorities and local governments may order medical personnel or institutions to resume work, if a temporary shutdown or closure of medical service causes difficulties in providing medical treatment to patients. Those who violate the regulation are subject to a suspension of business of up to 15 days and can face criminal charges.
In 2020, the Moon Jae-in government tried to increase the quota by 4,000 in a 10-year-plan, but withdrew it in the face of a doctors’ strike amid a surge in coronavirus infections.
The health ministry ordered doctors to resume operations and reported those who did not abide by the order to the police, which was later dropped after the ministry and the KMA signed an agreement.
Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the KMA is determined to hold another general rally on Sunday.
“The medical community will take strong countermeasures against the government’s lopsided and irrational policy enforcement. The KMA will unite 140,000 members and 20,000 medical students from across the country to set back the government’s push for quota hike plan,” Lee Pil-soo, who heads the association, said during the group’s protest near the presidential office in central Seoul's Yongsan District, Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) criticized the strike plan, saying the KMA’s “blanket opposition” shows the group’s “radical attitude, seeking to get their demands fulfilled, even at the cost of holding people’s rights to health and life hostage,” in an explanation by its senior spokesperson Yun Hee-suk.
Public opinion shows that most Korean people share concerns over a shortage of doctors and the deepening regional disparity of medical resources.
According to the latest survey by the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union, 82.7 percent of Koreans believe that a quota hike is necessary to guarantee better public access to medical services.
People in the medical circles have also shared such concerns, as suggested by medical centers and university hospitals in outer Seoul regions during meetings with the health authorities.
Meanwhile, the ministry said the government will “fully engage in conversation with the medical community, while taking strict measures against illegal collective actions according to law and principle.”