△On April 30, local time, medical staff at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea.
While the "wave of resignations" of Korean interns and residents in February this year due to their opposition to the medical school enrollment expansion plan has not yet subsided, Lim Hyun-taek, the new president of the Korean Medical Association, officially took office on May 1, starting a three-year term. He is considered a "hardliner" and demands that President Yoon Seok-yue apologize and replace the Minister of Health and Welfare as a prerequisite for dialogue.
The trigger for this "wave of resignations" among doctors is the medical university enrollment expansion plan released by the South Korean government in early February, which includes increasing the enrollment of university medical schools from the current 3,058 to 5,058 from the 2025 academic year, and by 2035 Added 10,000 new doctors. The medical community strongly opposed this plan. About 10,000 intern and resident doctors submitted their resignations and went on strike to leave their posts, causing chaos in diagnosis and treatment.
Lin Xianze posted on social media on May 1 that in order to stop doctors, patients and the public from worrying, he will try his best to solve this problem.
The outside world generally believes that Lim Hyun-taek is a "hardliner" in the medical field, and he will "fight to the end" with the Korean government over the medical school enrollment expansion plan. According to him, given that South Korea’s fertility rate continues to decline and its population decreases, medical schools should not expand enrollment but should reduce enrollment.
The South Korean government established a special committee on medical reform in April and hopes to dialogue with the medical community under this multilateral consultation mechanism. The medical community strongly opposed this and demanded "one-on-one" direct dialogue with the government. Lim Hyun-taek asked Yoon Seok-yue to apologize, replace the Minister of Health and Welfare, and withdraw the enrollment expansion plan, and then discuss other matters.
Before taking office, Lin Xianze said at a meeting that he would be "as resolute and tough as a soldier fighting on the front line" to prevent the government from introducing wrong policies. Korean media reported that he is scheduled to convene the first standing committee meeting of the Korean Medical Association on May 2 and plans to establish a consultation mechanism involving medical school professors, intern residents and medical students.
Source: CCTV News Client
