Ruling bloc moves toward talks in conflict with doctors

Calls grow within PPP over Yoon to show flexibility over medical school quota hike

The ruling bloc is increasingly leaning toward dialogue and compromise to resolve the month-long standoff between the government and doctors over the enrollment quota hike for medical schools, with President Yoon Suk Yeol asking doctors, Tuesday, to join discussions for the government’s medical budget next year.

Though Yoon is still stressing that there will be no compromise in increasing the current annual medical school admissions quota by 2,000, voices are growing within the ruling People Power Party (PPP) that Yoon should not obsess over that number. The party’s interim leader Han Dong-hoon said “there should be no limits in the subject for the government-doctor talks.”

During a meeting with doctors at a hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Yoon told his aides to “suggest the medical community join discussions for the government’s medical budget for 2025,” according to senior presidential secretary for public relations Lee Do-woon.

“The scale of improving regional medical infrastructure, strengthening compensation for doctors performing essential medical care and expanding medical R&D projects can be determined when the size of the medical budget is finalized,” Yoon was quoted as saying. “Through that, we can safeguard the people’s lives and safety more thoroughly.”

Yoon’s comments came hours after a Cabinet meeting in which he urged doctors to engage in dialogue with the government for his medical reform drive. In that meeting, he stressed the need to improve the levels of medical treatment, education and research capabilities at hospitals isolated from the capital region, adding that the enrollment quota expansion is the “starting point” for his medical reform drive.

Professors at most of the nation’s 40 medical schools began offering their resignations this week in protest of Yoon’s push to add 2,000 slots next year to the current 3,058 annual admissions quota. Trainee doctors have been staging a mass walkout since last month, and the government had not taken back its threats to suspend the doctors’ medical licenses.

However, since last weekend, the government has been sending signals to doctors for talks, with Yoon calling for a “flexible” approach in suspending the licenses of trainee doctors following the PPP interim leader’s request to do so.

Although Yoon and the government is sticking to the 2,000 slots and saying there will be no compromise, members of Yoon’s own party are increasing their voices that the president should be also “flexible” on the exact number.

“The medical reform, including the expansion of the admissions quota, is a very important task for the people’s health,” Han told reporters hours after Yoon’s Cabinet meeting. “Because public health is the top priority, there should be no limits in the subject for the talks (between the government and doctors), and they should reach a good conclusion through constructive dialogue.”

When asked similar questions, Han reiterated that he believes “there should be conversation, and there should be no limits in the subject,” implying the 2,000 figure could be subject to compromise.

His remarks are in line with PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s proposal for a compromise plan after Tuesday’s meeting with doctors. The doctor-turned-politician said that adding new slots should come after “scientific research on the demand and in consensus with doctors.”

PPP Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun also wrote on Facebook: “The PPP leadership should move to prevent (the government) from obsessing over the 2,000 figure and eventually losing chances for conversations with doctors.” The lawmaker continued, “It is time for the party to strive to read the public’s minds, not Yoon’s intentions.”

PPP Rep. Choe Jae-hyeong also said in a radio interview with YTN that he believed the conversation can start when “the government has a more flexible stance” on the enrollment quota issue.

Against that backdrop, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had talks with some representatives of doctors to explore ideas for ending the standoff.

Though the meeting ended without tangible outcomes as doctors held their position of scrapping the quota expansion plan as the prerequisite for dialogue, the prime minister expressed his intention to continue talks, telling reporters, “I don’t think this is an issue that can be settled with one meeting.”