South Korea Will Not Cancel The Increase In Medical School Quota Even Though It Is Against

JAKARTA - South Korea's Ministry of Health rejected calls from the medical community to change the country's plans to increase the quota for medical school admissions even though the policy was opposed by doctors who were marked by mass strikes by training doctors.

"The government will not overturn the decision to encourage the reforms that the majority of the people want after negotiating with certain groups," said Second Deputy Health Minister Park Min-soo at a press conference in Seoul as reported by ANTARA from Yonhap, Friday, March 29.

Deputy Minister of Health Park emphasized that the government's encouragement to carry out medical reforms would increase the quota for medical acceptance for the community and that this could not be negotiated.

The plan to add quota, he continued, was made after holding 130 polling sessions and the government would not cancel the plan without reasonable reasons.

"The government will not repeat bad history for giving up on certain work groups. We will stick to the principles of rule of law, support the people and complete medical reforms," Park said.

He conveyed that the government was open to dialogue to resolve the situation, but an increase in quotas of 2,000 people could not be changed, although some lawmakers from the ruling People's Power Party (People Power Party) have proposed a more gradual approach.

As for supporting the steps of the training doctor, professors of medical science throughout South Korea have started submitting resignations starting Monday (25/3).

Medical service disorders are expected to worsen as professors who serve as senior doctors in major hospitals will reduce weekly working hours to 52 hours by adjusting other operations and medical treatments and minimizing medical services for outpatients.

The government's reason for trying to increase patient admission quotas to overcome the shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas and essential medical areas, such as high-risk surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, and emergency medicine.