[News Today] DOCTORS DEMAND QUOTA HIKE SCRAP

[LEAD]
Meanwhile, the medical community remains strong on their stance despite the government's push to reach a bipartisan agreement. They stand firm on cancelling the medical school admissions increase first. Meanwhile, the government aims to stabilize emergency rooms by shielding deployed military doctors from medical malpractice liability.

[REPORT]
The medical community has made it clear that it will only join the proposed consultative body of the ruling and opposition parties and the government if the medical school enrollment quota hike is scrapped.

It insists that the quota hike for the 2025 and 2026 academic years be invalidated and the issue be discussed for the 2027 academic year or even later.

Choi Anna / Spokesperson, Korean Medical Association
No point in discussing 2025 and 2026 quota hike. It can only be done in educationally feasible way for 2027. We won't attend meaningless discussions.

The presidential office has dismissed the demand as unrealistic.

It says scrapping the quota expansion plans for 2025 and 2026 is impossible under the Higher Education Act, and discussing this matter is a very dangerous idea, because college admissions are directly related to hundreds of thousands of students.

Meanwhile, the situation in emergency rooms remains serious, as more and more dispatched military doctors refuse to work there due to pressure.

The health ministry says military doctors and other substitute workers who were dispatched to ERs from Sept. 4 are immune from liability for malpractice.

If any mishaps occur due to military doctors' fault, hospitals will pay compensation of up to 20 million won, or around 15,000 dollars.

The health ministry walked back its previous statement that military doctors could be punished for refusing to work in ERs, while the defense ministry drew a line by saying it had never considered punishment.

The Korean Medical Association is demanding that the government lay out a unified measure to solve the medical crisis instead of issuing stopgap orders and threats and changing its stance multiple times.

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