DP candidate Lee proposes public medical school in health care policy statement

Democratic Party (DP) presidential primary candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday unveiled a health care policy pledge focused on expanding medical school admissions through social consensus and establishing a public medical school.

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung waves to supporters in front of Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, western Seoul, on April 22. [NEWS1]

Democratic Party (DP) presidential primary candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday unveiled a health care policy pledge focused on expanding medical school admissions through social consensus and establishing a public medical school to strengthen public, essential and regional health care.

In a policy statement released on social media, Lee said, “We will rationalize the medical school quota,” and added, “We must restart from a social consensus involving all stakeholders, and take into account the changes of the times, including the development of artificial intelligence and advanced science and technology.”

However, he did not mention a specific figure or plan for increasing the medical school quota. While he left open the possibility of expansion, it is expected that a compromise will be drawn through a medical workforce supply and demand estimation committee.

“There is a consensus within the party in support of the 2020 policy direction to gradually increase admissions by 400,” said a key DP official.

“The recent medical crisis brought pain to everyone,” Lee said. “The medical community shut the door to dialogue due to the government’s unilateral decisions, and ultimately the people suffered the most.”

“Patients who could not receive proper treatment hovered between life and death, while residents and medical students left hospitals and campuses,” Lee said. “Now, we must end conflict, confrontation and political strife, and everyone must come together with the people’s lives and health at the center.”

This was interpreted as a message aimed at differentiating his policies by criticizing the prolonged medical conflict under former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration, often cited as one of its major failures.

Lee Jae-myung, then-leader of the Democratic Party, greets his supporters after attending an appellate court hearing at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District in southern Seoul on March 26. He was acquitted in the second trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. [NEWS1]

“We will strengthen public health care,” Lee added. “We will establish a public medical school to train public, essential and regional health care personnel and expand public hospitals equipped with next-generation public health care systems based on digital infrastructure.”

“The government will take responsibility for essential health care services such as emergency, childbirth and trauma care, while narrowing regional health care disparities,” Lee said. “We will reform the national health insurance system to ensure financial stability and efficiency, and strengthen the health care system to prioritize patients’ rights and safety.”

The public medical school Lee mentioned came from a policy first proposed by former President Moon Jae-in in 2018 but was later scrapped due to fierce opposition from the medical community. The Moon administration aimed to open the school in Namwon, North Jeolla, by 2022.

Graduates of the public medical school would have been required to work in regional public health care institutions for a fixed period, following a model similar to Japan's. The plan would have used the enrollment quota of 49 students from the closed Seonam University medical school, thus avoiding an increase in the overall medical school quota. It was ultimately abandoned.

Democratic Party presidential contender Lee Jae-myung attends a policy roundtable on capital market revitalization held at the Korea Financial Investment Association in Yeouido, western Seoul, on April 21. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

The public medical school Lee is now proposing is expected to take the form of a public medical officer academy.

“While the goal of training public medical personnel remains the same, the training track itself would be completely different,” a DP official explained, adding that the new plan may encompass the role of the national defense medical school currently being pursued by the Ministry of National Defense, and that alternative licensing systems distinct from those of existing physicians are also under consideration.

Meanwhile, Lee is scheduled to visit North Jeolla, Gwangju and South Jeolla on Thursday and Friday. The upcoming regional primary in the Honam regio, to be held on Saturday, includes 370,000 registered party members — 33 percent of the DP’s 1.12 million members nationwide.

The attention will be focused on whether Lee, who garnered a cumulative vote share of 89.56 percent in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions, can achieve a 90 percent vote share in Honam to solidify his lead.

In the 2021 DP primary, Lee was on a five-win streak before narrowly losing the Gwangju-South Jeolla vote to Lee Nak-yon by just 0.17 percentage points.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY RHEE ESTHER,JO SU-BIN [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]