Amid the global upheavals caused by war, civil unrest, and natural disasters, there is a bewildering internal conflict occurring in South Korea, one of the leading advanced nations in the world. It was an “out-of-the-blue,” unilateral declaration of war by President Yoon against medical doctors in February of this year. Never before had a president declared war on their own people.
It all started 8 months ago when President Yoon recklessly declared that he would increase medical school admission by 2,000 students starting in 2025. He claims that it is absolutely mandatory for the country. This declaration plunged the country into chaos, and the President’s only explanation is that Korea will face a severe shortage of medical doctors in the coming years if we do not start to increase the number of medical doctors now.
This is not a reform but obviously reckless political maneuver that is destroying one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Korea has long been a global leader in medical education and healthcare services, but President Yoon is tearing it all down in his insane rush to meet an arbitrary goal. And what is his excuse? He claims that the country will face a doctor shortage in the near future. Where is the evidence? He has shown us nothing.
This is all based on a lie and intentional disinformation. This led to all sorts of “bizarre rumors” floating around these days. As a matter of fact, the increment rate of the number of doctors in Korea is the highest among OECD countries.
Healthcare System in Ruins
The President’s order is faced with fierce opposition and protests from doctors. It has become clear that the government will not give up this absurd number, 2,000, no matter the cost. As of October 6, 86.7% (11,732/13,531) of doctors in training have walked out and nearly all (96.6%, 18,721/19,374) medical students have left their schools.
Critical care units, emergency rooms, cancer wards, pediatrics, and obstetrics are in disarray. Patients with life-threatening conditions are expressing frustration, anxiety, and anger with the lack of adequate medical care. This is the President’s legacy.
University hospitals, which rely heavily on residents, are facing astronomical financial losses and are on the verge of closing. Non-MD employees are facing unpaid leave or layoffs. And hiring of nurses and technicians has abruptly stopped, leaving recent college graduates in shock. Furthermore, local businesses in and around hospitals are suffering enormous monetary losses.
Why should these people have to suffer from such unfair damage brought by a leader for whom they have voted? Healthcare security is just as important as military defense. If healthcare security collapses, national defense will follow. What will happen to our country then? Who is responsible for this mess? And why? The President must answer.
Government Lies, Doctors Demonized
The government is turning the people against doctors, who are against their sudden absurd 2,000 medical students increase in a year, painting them as greedy, unethical, and self-serving. The President and his cronies accuse doctors of abandoning essential healthcare in favor of cushier, more profitable practices and failing to uphold the Hippocratic Oath. Young doctors even think that they are being treated as “public slaves” to be exploited by the government on the order to maintain treatment position. That is why they have left.
The fundamental cause of this disaster is the government’s “demonization” of doctors. Young doctors feel that their life-long dreams, for which they have worked so hard all their lives, have been taken away by the President. The President and government even accuse doctors of having created a “vested interest cartel” and monopolizing medical services. Monopoly? This is absurd! They cannot even distinguish between professionalism and monopoly. This shows how ignorant, dangerous, and law-defying their mindset is.
Doctors are furious and have become anti-government, anti-president warriors. Worse yet, the government is spending taxpayer money and health insurance funds to spread propaganda, deceiving the public into thinking that this increase in medical students is not only necessary but good for them.
The victims of this disaster are the public, sick people, and their families. However, the majority of citizens who are not sick are not even interested. Moreover, this group of “healthy” people seems to be enjoying this dispute between doctors and the President. The President himself may even believe that blaming doctors will raise his approval ratings. Politicians are not worried because they have their own “connections” with the hospitals. Thus, only doctors and a few intellectuals who can foresee the disastrous outcome are genuinely concerned for the country and its people.
Medical Education Under Attack
To make matters worse, the Ministry of Education has launched an all-out assault on the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE), the institution responsible for maintaining the high standards of medical schools. The Ministry of Education has issued an ordinance with the purpose of weakening the function of KIMEE or even threatening to cancel government approval for KIMEE authenticity.
I wrote the bill that established KIMEE 10 years ago when I was a member of the National Assembly. Since its establishment, members of the National Assembly from both the ruling and opposition parties alike have been constantly trying to revise the KIMEE law to undermine the function of KIMEE. Obviously, they have very little interest in medical education or the future of healthcare in Korea. Instead, their only selfish intention is to revise this bill so they can bring a new medical school to their constituency. They believe that building a new medical school will help them gain more votes in the next elections.
Now, I am watching in horror as the government seeks to dismantle KIMEE, the last stronghold of medical education, just to make way for this ridiculous expansion of medical school admission. They are willing to sacrifice the quality of medical education to push through their political agenda. This is not governance; this is criminal behavior.
The Ministry of Education is trying to bypass the basic requirements of medical education. They want to allow students to pass through some medical schools, which are not prepared with enough professors, bedside training, or classes in coming years of increased number of students, and even without qualifying exams. These students will graduate, take the national licensure exam, and become licensed doctors. Can you imagine? This is barbarism. This is the government committing a crime against its own people. This barbaric act of the Korean Ministry of Education set a fire among doctors, particularly those professors, who recently held a street rally in front of the President’s office in Seoul.
Why 2,000? The Silent Crime of the Government
No one can answer the most critical question: Why 2,000? Why this specific number? What is driving this insane fixation on forcing through such a dangerous policy? The President and his officials have offered no explanation, and this silence has given rise to conspiracy theories and wild rumors. People are right to be suspicious.
As long as the government refuses either to justify or to adjust the number 2,000, the paltry measures it offers, such as a trivial increase in insurance payments, insignificant “compensation” for huge hospital losses, and the creation of unimportant committees, are not fundamental solutions. It appears that these mere gestures are masquerading as “medical reform” in an attempt to cover up the government’s lack of answers for this strange number, 2,000.
In the meantime, not only the President but also government officials repeatedly make provocative and humiliating remarks that test the limits of doctors’ patience. They are showing a complete lack of understanding of medical expertise. Young doctors are being treated like public slaves, disposable and interchangeable. Medical officers and public health doctors on their mandatory military service are enforced into roles they are not trained for, such as emergency care and intensive care, under the threat of punishment.
And now, in a desperate move to cover up the healthcare collapse, the government is even considering allowing Korean traditional medicine practitioners to fill in for medical doctors. This is madness. This is illegal. This is a threat to the very lives of the people.
Healthcare System in Korea, Good and Bad
Until now, South Korea has boasted world-class medical care, including universal government health insurance coverage; unlimited choice of location, hospital, clinic, or doctor; unlimited clinic visits and hospitalizations; low medical fees; top-notch cost-effectiveness; and the world’s highest medical accessibility. In most instances, Korean patients can see doctors—even board-certified specialists—at nearby walk-in clinics without an appointment.
Many foreign government officials have visited Korea to learn about its healthcare system and health insurance programs. The Korean system has been praised, even by Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. But President Yoon has destroyed it all with a single blow, without a good cause or explanation.
Despite all these merits and strong advantages of the Korean healthcare system, the legal risk imposed on Korean doctors is extremely high and worsening at a rapid pace compared with any other advanced nation. Korean doctors are facing astronomical monetary penalties and, to make matters even worse, they are subject to criminal charges for unavoidable medical accidents. Korea is the only country in the world where doctors face criminal charges for unavoidable medical accidents.
Due to judicial tyranny caused by emotional bias, distorted leniency toward patients and their families, and lack of medical knowledge among prosecutors, judges, and lawyers, young doctors and professors are leaving hospitals, where they are constantly exposed to legal risk, overwork, and a lack of trust from their patients.
A Looming National Disaster
If the President’s insane plan goes ahead, the country will face an educational and healthcare disaster of unimaginable proportions. With the planned increase of 1,500 students (the government somehow “discounted” 500 from the number 2,000, only for the year 2025), there will be 4,500 new 1st-year students next year. Moreover, 3,000 current 1st-year students are presently out of school and will most likely remain in their 1st year again next year. Therefore, next year, Korea’s 40 medical schools will be tasked with educating 7,500 1st-year students. There are not enough professors, facilities, or training hospitals to handle this huge influx of students. This is an absolutely unthinkable disaster! And then what?
By 2031, 7,500 students will graduate and flood the job market. Only 3,000 internship positions exist in teaching hospitals. What will then happen to the remaining 4,500 graduates who cannot find post-graduate training? As residents and faculty leave, there will be no more specialists newly coming out in essential medical or surgical fields from next year. This will impose a great disaster in the future.
The ripple effects will be felt for decades, and the consequences could be disastrous for many patients. This is not just a disaster waiting to happen. It is a disaster unfolding right now, driven by one man’s ego and lust for power.
This Is a War, This Is a Betrayal, This Must Be Stopped
President Yoon and his government are betraying the people of Korea. They are dismantling the very foundation of healthcare and medical education, all in the name of political expediency. The President is playing with the lives of every citizen in this country. He has demonized doctors and turned the people against them, and is pushing forward with a policy that will lead to untold suffering. This is not healthcare reform. This is a systematic destruction of a nation’s lifeblood.
Moreover, the government recently announced that it will pour tens of trillions of won into making the 2,000-student increase happen. Whose money is this? It is our tax and health insurance fees, our bloody money. The national debt is in the hundreds of trillions, and there is a 30 trillion–won tax shortfall this year. This is insanity!
Who will bear the consequences of this wrongful decision and enormous financial waste? Who will take responsibility when the health insurance fund runs dry? The President’s war against doctors is a war against every single citizen. If this continues, there will be no more healthcare system left to save. This is not governance. This is tyranny. We, the doctors who know the very truth of this disaster, must rise up before it is too late.
I can only hope that the next two and a half years of remaining presidential term pass quickly, but no one knows what the future holds. That is why we must prepare for the worst. Everyone must fend for themselves and take responsibility for their own health and safety.
Lastly, I am urging President Yoon once and for all to stop pushing this increase in medical school admission by 2,000 students starting in 2025. I also request that the Korean Ministry of Education stop its evil act of demolishing KIMEE in an attempt to execute the President’s insane order, which will without a doubt destroy not only our healthcare system but also our country.