Yoon's office reiterates medical reform after 1,509-seat hike finalized by education board

The presidential office on Sunday doubled down on medical reform, citing the educational council's decision on Friday which approved a 1,509-seat addition in the upcoming medical school admissions cycle.

A study area inside a college of medicine's building in Seoul is empty on Friday, the day when the country decided to add 1,509 new enrollment seats in medical schools. [YONHAP]

The presidential office on Sunday doubled down on the enrollment expansion in medical schools, citing the educational council's decision on Friday which approved a 1,509-seat addition in the upcoming medical school admissions cycle.

On Friday, the Korean Council for University Education reviewed and approved the admissions plan for the 2025 academic year, expanding the size of the annual medical school incoming class to 4,567 students.

Thus, the country will see its first medical recruitment expansion in 27 years, a 49.3 percent increase from last year's admissions quota of 3,058 slots.

The Ministry of Education stated that once these procedures are completed, the increased medical school quota cannot be changed.

Universities will publish their admissions guidelines on their websites by May 31, completing the process of increasing medical school admissions by the end of the month.

In an effort to address the gap between doctors in metropolitan and rural areas and the preference for specialties like dermatology and plastic surgery over essential fields such as internal medicine and pediatrics, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration announced on Feb. 6 a plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 annually for five years starting in 2025. Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential director of national policy, said in a briefing on Sunday that President Yoon Suk Yeol requested the Ministry of Education to “take necessary measures to ensure that the admissions [process] and curriculum could be rolled out smoothly in universities with medical schools through close cooperation.”

Yoon also asked the Health Ministry to devise a means to “bring back trainee doctors to hospitals” and “steadily maintain emergency treatment and services.” He also asked the ministry to take swift effort and actions to specify benefit packages for hospitals and doctors treating critically ill and emergency patients.

The president also underscored the importance of having solid state-funded support for essential and regional medical fields and fairly compensating doctors serving in those sectors.

The presidential office said it will review administrative punishment measures against junior doctors who are refusing to come back to hospitals depending on "their returning status."

Seven doctors walk inside a general hospital in Seoul on Sunday. [NEWS1]

Despite public support, the decision faced strong resistance from junior doctors, who have been staging a walkout in protest for over three months. Only 658 out of the 13,000 junior doctors in training — who are on their internship and residency — at 100 hospitals nationwide were working as of Tuesday, constituting about 5 percent of the total.

Medical school professors have condemned the government's unyielding stance on the hike, which they say has prevented medical residents and students from returning to their posts.

"It is clear that [...] an increased medical school quota cannot nurture doctors with proper medical skills," the emergency committee representing medical university professors nationwide said in a press conference held at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Friday.

"If the government had indeed been preparing for the medical school quota increase for a long time, as it claims, the first step should have been to ensure adequate educational conditions by thoroughly inspecting the universities' personnel, facilities and equipment at least a year in advance," the committee added. "The government is recklessly implementing unreasonable and dangerous policies to complete the increase in medical school quotas and suppress the medical community."

Professors at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Samsung Medical Center announced plans for weekly closures on Fridays, following similar weekly closure policies implemented by the other "Big 5" major hospitals in Seoul.

The government is urging junior doctors to return to work promptly while seeking dialogue with the medical community.

"The government will spare no support to ensure that medical residents receive fair treatment as trainees," Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said in a briefing Friday. "Please do not hesitate, trust the government and return to your workplaces promptly. That is the starting point for resolving the issues." On Sunday, the nation’s largest doctors’ group, the Korean Medical Association, said it will host candlelight vigils in front of Deoksu Palace in central Seoul on Thursday evening to denounce the government’s medical reform and its health policies.

The protest, dubbed “When the Korean medical service was pronounced dead,” will be staged across the country in Gangwon, Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, Jeolla and Jeju from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the same day.

Junior doctors and medical students will attend the nationwide protests. Participants are planning to hold pickets with the slogan “The death of medical education is the death of public health.”

A graduate of KAIST who interrupted President Yoon's speech and was forcibly pulled out by security during a commencement ceremony in February is also reported to join Thursday’s protest. The graduate is planned to give a speech condemning the government’s approach toward the science sector.

BY SEO JI-EUN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]