Yoon invites junior doctors for a 'direct conversation'

Social Affairs

Published: 02 Apr. 2024, 19:30 Updated: 02 Apr. 2024, 19:46

Yoon invites junior doctors for a 'direct conversation'

Medical professionals walk past a wall with recruitment posters for junior doctors at a general hospital in Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

President Yoon Suk Yeol is willing to have a “direct conversation" with junior doctors to listen to their voices, his office said Tuesday.

While there are many doctors' groups, President Yoon "wants to meet junior doctors who are involved in collective action and hear their views directly," the presidential office said in a statement. The office said it “always remains open to the people.”

On the same day, the Health Ministry invited doctors to present a “reasonable and consensual alternative [to the admissions hike] based on scientific grounds” to the government, which is ready to “join dialogue open-mindedly.”

The authorities requested the doctors to submit their detailed perspectives and opinions on “how to set priorities in budget spending for health care policies and how to roll out medical reform.”

The call on Tuesday came a day after Yoon gave a public address about medical reform, which drew mixed responses.

Some people viewed the presidential speech as a reaffirmation of a “non-compromising stance sticking to a 2,000-seat increase,” while others interpreted that the government left room for negotiation.

During the address, Yoon said that the government and doctors can "discuss the issue related to the admission seat hike as much as the medical sector wants."

A person watches a televised presidential speech at Seoul Station on Monday. President Yoon Suk Yeol made 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. [NEWS1]

The presidential aide underpinned the possibility of adjusting the scale of medical school admission hike later on Monday during a local news broadcast, saying “2,000 is not an absolute and non-changeable figure.”

Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential director of national policy, added that "stakeholders’ resentment is not enough to flip the number of seats for the hike" since the number is calculated based on thorough analysis.

But he also added that the government can review the agenda of the quota hike with a "forward-looking attitude" in a more “flexible and resilient manner.”

Doctors, the main subject and target of the presidential address, nailed down their unbending stance after Yoon’s address on Monday, saying they will not return unless the government revokes its plan to add 2,000 seats in annual medical schools' admissions.

“Doctors are highly suspicious of Yoon’s thoughts,” Kim Sung-geun, head of public relations for the emergency committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.

“If the Education Ministry halts its work for the 2,000-seat increase, doctors might believe the sincerity [of Yoon’s words]. Otherwise, doctors will be sidelined.”

“The presidential speech proved that the Yoon administration has no will and capability to resolve the current standoff [between the medical sector and the government],” Bang Jae-seung, the head of the emergency committee of the medical professors’ group, said Monday.

Bang added that there have been “no responses from junior doctors” after the speech. He also said senior doctors think that their juniors “will not return.”

Four medical professionals walk inside a general hospital in Seoul. [NEWS1]

A mass boycott among successful intern candidates unfolds across the country as Bang said.

Those admitted to a yearlong internship — which comes before three years of residency — must register their employment information on the Health Ministry’s system by Tuesday. Failure to do so will delay their career development, making them unable to commence their internship in the first half of this year.

A total of 49 successful candidates from the Gachon University Gil Medical Center and 42 from the nearby Inha University Hospital have not yet registered. Inha University Hospital has only one candidate who properly completed registration.

Some 54 intern candidates at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi and more than 120 candidates who were appointed as interns in hospitals in South Gyeongsang and Busan areas also have not entered their information on the registry.

In Gangwon, none of the candidates appointed by Kangwon National University Hospital and Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital have enrolled into the system as of 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Non-returning junior doctors made hospitals downsize their operations, which decreased hospitals' earnings.

Seoul National University Hospital — one of the country’s top five largest medical centers — “inevitably” entered a phase of emergency business management, mainly because of its ballooning deficit.

Seoul National University Hospital closed 10 of its 60 wards to mitigate its financial difficulties. Also, it is allowing its nurses to take unpaid leave of absence.

“The hospital will review this year’s annual budget and allocation to start over,” Kim Young-tae, the hospital's director, announced via online post on Tuesday.

Kim promised the newly planned budget would be “executed in the most efficient way possible” and would “help the hospital maintain emergency treatment and patient care.”

The hospital raised its overdraft bank account’s borrowing limit from 50 billion won ($37 million) to 100 billion won last month to address operational deficits caused by understaffing and reduced services.

Medical professors picket in front of the Seoul Administrative Court in southern Seoul on March 22 to protest against the government's decision to add 2,000 seats in medical schools' admissions starting next year. [NEWS1]

The Seoul Administrative Court on Tuesday quashed medical professors' complaint against the Education Ministry and Health Ministry, which intended to halt the government’s work for the 2,000-seat expansion in medical schools' admission.

It marks the first legal decision from the court regarding the standoff between doctors and the government.

Professorial committees from 33 medical schools requested the court earlier last month to suspend the execution of the hike, citing that a “procedural and administrative fault made the admission hike invalid.”

Medical professors said the medical schools’ admission quota should have been confirmed a year earlier as the Higher Education Act mandates that the government should announce admission seats 22 months before candidates enter university.

When complaints are not qualified for a proper subject for the court’s review, the judiciary authority can quash a plaintiff’s requests.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]