New head of the Korean Medical Association Kim Taek-woo speaks during his inauguration ceremony at the KMA headquarters on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
New head of the Korean Medical Association Kim Taek-woo speaks during his inauguration ceremony at the KMA headquarters on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

The new head of South Korea's largest group of doctors kept a hardline stance, despite a recent conciliatory gesture from the government, dampening hopes for renewed dialogue addressing the ongoing and almost yearlong medical crisis.

The Korean Medical Association announced that Kim Taek-woo, a surgeon, was appointed as its new leader on Tuesday, following his election on Jan. 8. The KMA leadership had remained vacant since late last year after the impeachment of former head Lim Hyun-taek. The KMA has been boycotting its requested participation in multilateral dialogue between the government, the medical community, and the two rival parties.

The change in leadership raised expectations that the KMA would respond to the government's latest measures that suggested exempting resident doctors from military training and postponing their military service. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok publicly apologized, expressing his "heartfelt regret." However, the KMA has yet to issue a response.

“The administration will devote its full efforts to resolving the current crisis and to restore normalcy to Korea’s health care environment,” said Kim during his inaugural speech.

Kim also criticized the government for its medical reform policies, urging it to "stop its complacent and irresponsible tactics” to delay talks with the medical community and to "address the issues” at hand.

Since February last year, thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces due to mass resignations, after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration decided to increase the medical school admissions quota to 2,000 from the 2025 academic year. The medical community demands that the government scraps the quota hike and returns to the drawing board to overhaul its medical reform plans from scratch.

“The government and the ruling party are addressing the current crisis without any concrete plan to resolve it,” Kim continued. “Let me be clear -- under the current conditions, it’s practically impossible to provide a proper medical education. The government must acknowledge this fact and present a genuine master plan for medical education -- not something that can be a temporary fix -- so that medical education can be delivered effectively this year.”

Kim added, “Once the government presents a clear plan and definite policies to resolve the current crisis and normalize medical education, only then can the medical community consider engaging in talks with the government about the medical school expansion by 2026 and other educational initiatives.”