Despite the South Korean government's decision last week to freeze the medical school admission quota at its pre-expansion level for 2026, thousands of doctors and medical students rallied in central Seoul on Saturday, calling for a complete rollback of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s health care reform agenda.
Although the government withdrew its plan to increase medical school seats by 2,000, it simultaneously laid the legal groundwork to convene a medical workforce estimation committee tasked with analyzing long-term doctor shortages by specialty and advising future health workforce policy.
Protesters argue this committee, seen as a prelude to future expansion, is an extension of Yoon's previous reform plan, which lacks transparency in its process and medical community consensus.
At the rally, Kim Taek-woon, president of the Korean Medical Association, called for going completely back to the drawing board.
“We were not wrong. The government must admit its mistakes and offer a responsible apology along with corrective measures,” he said at the rally. “The so-called medical reform plan must be discussed again from the beginning. The administration that destroyed the medical system must take responsibility for doing so."
The KMA said Sunday’s demonstration was a direct protest against the Yoon government’s health reform initiatives, including the recently formed special committee on health reform and the now-suspended medical student admissions quota hike.
According to the KMA, around 25,000 people joined the protest, including 6,000 medical students.
Medical students and young doctors also took the podium. Park Dan, vice president of the KMA and leader of the Korean Intern Resident Association’s emergency response team, criticized the administration’s refusal to acknowledge what he called “policy failure and wasteful spending.”
“If the government truly cares about saving lives, it must resolve this crisis before its term ends,” Park said. “It's the government that unilaterally made a decision and didn't follow the appropriate procedures," he added, demanding that the government actually listen to the voices of young doctors and students.
The freeze on medical school enrollment for 2026 momentarily diffused tensions. However, the rally came in the wake of a new round of public criticism over what some see as the government giving in to the resistance of the medical elite.
In a formal statement issued at the protest, the KMA declared, “Health care policy cannot be advanced through unilateral decision-making that excludes the medical profession. The Yoon administration’s so-called reforms, including the 'Essential Medical Policy Package,' must be scrapped immediately.”
The association warned that the nation’s medical system stands at the edge of collapse and urged the government to “listen to the medical community in order to restore stability and normalcy.”
jychoi@heraldcorp.com
