Yoon doubles down on 2,000-seat hike in med schools in public address

President Yoon Suk Yeol makes an address to the nation on his government's medical reform plans amid a clash with doctors' groups at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Monday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol underscored that a hike of 2,000 seats in the medical school enrollment quota next year was an irrefutable necessity in a public address Monday while apologizing to the people for inconveniencing them in the clash between the government and doctors' groups.

"As president, I feel sorry for not being able to resolve the inconveniences of the people quickly," Yoon said in the 51-minute televised address to the nation on his administration's medical reform plans from the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul.

This comes as the government plans to drastically increase medical school enrollment to address the nation's shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas and less popular fields. This policy has been met with major pushback from medical professionals in the past weeks, resulting in nationwide walkouts by junior doctors, inconveniencing patients.

Regarding the ongoing conflict with the medical community, Yoon stressed that the 2,000 increase in medical students is a carefully calculated figure, taking into consideration an expected shortage of some 15,000 doctors by 2035.

He shot back at critics who called a hike of 2,000 seats "excessive" and a unilateral move by the government.

"The government's medical reform is to strengthen essential and local health care to create a medical environment where all people can receive treatment with peace of mind," Yoon said. "For this, we need more doctors."

Yoon said that "2,000 seats is not just a number," adding that "the government reviewed all statistics and research and carefully reviewed the current and future situations."

He pointed out it takes around 10 years to train a new doctor fully.

Yoon noted that there are currently 115,000 doctors in the country, and if the number starts to increase by 2,000 annually for the next decade, it will increase by 20,000 after 20 years.

He said that 2,000 "is a minimum increase the government came up with through thorough calculations" and also followed a series of discussions with the medical community, including doctors' groups.

"How uncomfortable and anxious everyone must be because of the continued collective actions of the trainee doctor?" Yoon said. "I would like to express my gratitude to the people willing to endure the inconveniences and support the government's medical reform despite this difficult situation."

He noted that doctors' groups have been "making threats" through their ongoing collective actions.

"If a more valid and reasonable plan is brought forward, we can discuss it as much as they want," he said, offering dialogue to the medical community.

However, he said that if the medical community wants to continue to insist on a reduction from the 2,000-seat hike, it should be ready to "present a unified plan to the government with solid scientific evidence, rather than collective action."

He then called for "an immediate halt to the illegal collective action" and stressed that doctors would not be able to block the process of forming "legitimate" policies without proper grounds.

"If illegal collective action is carried out by holding the lives of the people hostage while using exclusive authority as a weapon and abandoning obligations, the state will have no choice but to respond in accordance with laws and principles," Yoon added.

"We will make huge investments to make our medicine and the medical industry the most competitive in the world," Yoon said, addressing the striking junior doctors. "If you are going to take collective action, do it not while opposing the increase in medical personnel, but when I do not keep my promises."

Yoon last gave a televised public address last November, when he apologized to the nation after Busan failed to win the bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

This is the third time that Yoon has issued a public address, the first one taking place after a deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood in October 2022.

Yoon wore a light blue tie while giving his address, the same one he wore at his inauguration ceremony in 2022, according to a presidential official, indicating his intention to return to his roots and conduct "politics for the people."

Lim Hyun-taek, the newly elected president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) who has taken a hard-line stance against the government's medical reform plans, refused to comment on Yoon's address and said, "My official position is that I have no position."

His remarks were construed as indicating he feels no reason to respond so long as the government insists on boosting med school enrollment by 2,000.

Lim has previously dismissed the government's demand that the medical community participate in "unconditional dialogue."

In turn, former KMA head Noh Hwan-gyu criticized Yoon's address as "false" in a Facebook post on Monday.

"The provision of biased information is the tyranny of power," he wrote. "If, as you say, doctors' licenses must be suspended to save medical care and health care is paralyzed because of this, the politics you are talking about are wrong. The entire nation knows, and only you don't know."

"It's not an issue that can just be buried with numbers because it is directly related to the health of the people," Han Dong-hoon, interim chief of Yoon's People Power Party, said regarding the president's remarks later Monday amid campaigning in Busan.

"The majority of the public agrees that more doctors are needed," Han said. "On the other hand, I also hope that the current situation is resolved quickly."

Han said that the PPP has "strongly requested that the government conduct extensive dialogue and consultations" with the medical community to reach "a conclusion for the people as soon as possible."

There were conflicting views within the PPP, however, with some members even calling on Yoon to withdraw from the party, while others said that his speech was "sufficiently persuasive."

The liberal Democratic Party also slammed Yoon's address, saying the government lacks communication.

Shin Hyun-young, the DP spokesperson, said in a statement that Yoon "didn't even allow reporters to attend" his public address and ask questions and claimed it "contained no new content and delivered only existing one-sided claims for nearly an hour."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]