Lee Jae-myung's push to bring junior doctors to talks falls short

KIRA head rejects dialogue unless med school expansion plan dropped, doctors' working conditions improved

Democratic Party of Korea Chair Lee Jae-myung (Yonhap)

Despite the main opposition’s bid to break the medical impasse, Saturday’s closed-door meeting between the Democratic Party of Korea leader and the junior doctors’ representative failed to secure key stakeholders' backing for a proposed four-way consultative body.

The bipartisan consultative body, designed to bring together the Yoon administration, ruling and main opposition parties, and the medical community, has been touted as a possible tool for resolving the continued medical crisis. Yet, the medical community remains unresponsive.

During the 90-minute meeting, Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung attempted to get Park Dan, chief of the Korean Intern Resident Association, to participate in the consultative body, Jo Seoung-lae, the party's chief spokesperson, said in a written briefing after the meeting.

The move comes as Lee aims to address the medical void caused by the Yoon administration's continued push of a drastic quota hike in medical school admissions places since February.

The meeting was also attended by Rep. Park Joo-min, who heads the party's Special Committee on Medical Crisis, and Kang Cheong-hee, chair of the the party's Health Care and Medical Special Committee.

Park, however, reaffirmed that he has no intention of participating in the consultative body, noting that he remains unchanged in his stance on the 2025 medical school enrollment quota and other demands of the KIRA. The KIRA's demands include: completely scrap the expansion plan; improve the poor working conditions of interns and residents, who are currently expected to work up to 80-hour workweeks; and roll out specific measures to protect medical professionals from liability for medical accidents caused by unforeseeable events or circumstances.

Lee concurred with leaving all options and possibilities open in discussing the expansion plan for next year, urging the government to be proactive and change its attitude on the quota hike, as its inflexibility has negatively impacted the public amid the monthslong medical vacuum.

Soon after the meeting, Park wrote on Facebook that junior doctors and medical students who left their worksites and classrooms "will not return next spring" for the new academic year.

"It's impossible to educate 7,500 students. (The government) should withdraw its plan to hike the medical school admissions quota for 2025," his Facebook post read. Park added that he plans to communicate with the main opposition party occasionally about the country's medical crisis.

While Park indicated no change of course, reports on Sunday suggest that interns and residents who have resigned have reportedly created a new group representing themselves alongside the existing KIRA.

The KIRA president previously wrote on Facebook last Monday that Lim Hyun-taek, the chief of the Korean Medical Association, is trying to establish a new junior doctors' group through its board members, who are trainee doctors who have resigned, noting that he has confirmed this through various sources.

However, an official at the KMA told The Korea Herald that the reported junior doctors' group "does not exist within the KMA," declining to comment further.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)