What will Yoon, Han talk about at dinner?

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with then-ruling People Power Party interim leader and current Chair Han Dong-hoon at a New Year's event held at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul in January. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon are scheduled to hold a dinner meeting Tuesday, as several impending issues, such as the country's deepening medical crisis, loom over their heads.

Besides Yoon and Han, the dinner will be attended by 14 officials from the ruling party leadership and the presidential office. Han recently requested a separate, private one-on-one meeting between him and Yoon on the sidelines of the dinner meeting, but the presidential office hinted that it is unlikely to take place on Thursday.

"(A one-on-one meeting) is a matter that should be discussed separately. Tomorrow will be where (President Yoon) will encourage the new leadership of (the People Power Party)," an official at the presidential office, who requested not be named, told reporters Thursday afternoon.

While the presidential office and ruling party have yet to announce a fixed agenda for the upcoming meeting, they both said that it will be "an occasion for broad communication." Han Ji-ah, a senior spokesperson of the People Power Party, told reporters Sunday that it is "difficult to predict" what items will be on the agenda, despite mentioning the delayed formation of a four-way consultative body -- comprised of the Yoon government, ruling and opposition parties and the medical community -- suggested by Han earlier this month, to tackle the continued medical crisis. She added that there will be "unlimited items on the agenda" if Yoon and Han hold a one-on-one meeting.

A political expert said that finding a breakthrough in the medical crisis, caused by the monthslong walkout of thousands of junior doctors protesting the government's decision in February to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 places, will likely emerge at the top of the meeting's agenda.

"Resolving the standoff between the government and the medical community is Han's top priority at the moment," Bae Jong-ho, a politician affiliated with the main opposition party and professor at Sehan University, said.

"The four-way consultative body is a key step towards resolving the crisis, but the medical community is refusing to join the body and calling for the government to completely scrap its admissions quota plan. Han needs the president or the government to express willingness to adopt a more flexible attitude towards the requests of the doctors' groups here," Bae added.

The Democratic Party of Korea's special committee for resolving the prolonged health care crisis on Monday called for Yoon and Han to "come up with a realistic and specific resolution for the health care crisis at the dinner scheduled for Oct. 24." The remarks jointly made by the main opposition lawmakers follow Democratic Party Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung's meeting with Korean Medical Association chief Lim Hyun-taek on Sunday. Han held his separate meeting with the head of the largest doctors' association here last Thursday.

Observers also pointed to the three contentious bills passed by the opposition-led National Assembly last week, including one that mandates a special counsel probe into multiple allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee, as another likely agenda item. The bill is an updated version of one vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in January. The previous version focused on appointing a special counsel to investigate the first lady's alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, which dates back to 2009 and 2012. The revised bill added several other allegations, including that Kim illegally interfered in the ruling People Power Party's candidate nominations ahead of the April 10 general election. It is expected that Yoon will veto the three bills recently passed by the Assembly once again.

Tuesday's scheduled meeting comes nearly two months after Yoon postponed a dinner with Han and the ruling party leadership originally set for late August to after the Chuseok holiday. The two reportedly disagreed on the quota hike after Han proposed deferring the medical school quota increase to the 2026 academic year to bring doctors to the negotiating table.

By Jung Min-kyung(mkjung@heraldcorp.com)