Yoon vows to respect trainee doctors’ position on medical reform

Apr 05, 2024, 10:22 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol takes notes during a government meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on April 4, 2024./ Courtesy of Presidential Office

AsiaToday reporter Hong Sun-mi

President Yoon Suk-yeol met with the head of the nation’s trainee doctors’ group on Thursday amid the ongoing standoff between the government and doctors over the government’s medical reform plan.

The meeting came two days after the presidential office announced Yoon’s intention to meet the trainee doctors in person.

President Yoon held a closed-door meeting with Park Dan, emergency committee chief of the Korean Intern Resident Association on Thursday that lasted around two hours and 20 minutes, presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung said in a written briefing.

“The president listened attentively to Chairman Park regarding the problems of the current medical system,” Kim said, noting that the two exchanged opinions on how to improve the treatment and working conditions of trainee doctors.

“The president agreed to respect the position of trainee doctors when discussing medical reform, including an increase in doctors, with the medical community in the future,” the spokesperson said.

Sung Tae-yoon, presidential chief of staff for policy, and spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung were present at the meeting.

It was the first meeting between Yoon and Park since trainee doctors left their worksites on Feb. 20. The meeting raised expectations for laying the groundwork for finding a solution to the standoff.

However, it is difficult to predict how the standoff will proceed as the presidential office did not disclose the details of the talks between Yoon and Park.

As the presidential office initially called the meeting between them “a meeting to fully listen to the opinions of trainee doctors,” it could have been a meeting to confirm each other’s position rather than making a detailed agreement.

Yoon on Monday delivered a televised address and expressed his intention to hold a dialogue with the medical community, urging doctors to come up with a unified alternative proposal if they wish to reduce the medical school admissions quota in question.

#Yoon Suk-yeol #Park Dan #trainee doctors