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Amid the intensifying legislative conflict surrounding medical school expansion, Lim Hyun-taek, the next president-elect of the Korean Medical Association, reiterated his stance that he would not agree to any negotiations without ‘cancelling the announcement of expansion.’
President-elect Lim attended the 76th regular general meeting of the Korean Medical Association held at The K Hotel Seoul in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 28th and said, “Despite the fact that Korea’s medical care is plummeting to the cliff, the government, instead of taking a true stance to solve the problem, called it medical reform and increased the number of medical school students by 2000. “They are sticking to their mandate and pushing forward with the essential medical policy package,” he criticized.
President-elect Lim said, “This is not a legislative conflict, but a medical malpractice triggered solely by the government’s unilateral abuse of power,” and urged, “If the government realizes the seriousness of the situation, it should apologize to the public and the medical community as soon as possible.”
He also announced that he would not come to the negotiating table with the government unless the medical school expansion and essential medical policy package were reexamined from the beginning.
The government took a step back from the ‘2,000-person increase’ by allowing the 2025 medical school recruitment quota to be set autonomously in the range of 50-100% of the increase, but the medical community is also opposing this plan. The Korean Medical Association and the Korean Medical Residents Association (Daejeon Medical Association) did not participate in the Special Committee on Medical Reform, which was launched under the direct control of the President on the 25th.
President-elect Lim said, “We clearly state our position that the medical community can begin discussions from square one only after the government first announces an increase in medical schools by 2,000 students and cancels the essential medical package policy. Otherwise, the medical community will not take a single step forward.” “We will not do this, and we will not respond to any negotiations,” he emphasized.
President-elect Lim, who was elected as the 42nd president of the Korean Medical Association, is classified as a representative ‘hardliner’ within the medical community.
The official term begins on the 1st of next month, but President-elect Lim is expected to begin work in earnest as the Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Association virtually ended its work and was disbanded at the National Assembly meeting on that day.
President-elect Lim also wrote on social networking service (SNS), “If the government touches even the slightest detail on medical students, the only thing left is catastrophe.”
