Consultative body on doctors' walkout in South Korea breaks up

Seoul(The Uttam Hindu): A consultative body involving the ruling party, the government and doctors' groups broke up Sunday, 20 days after its creation for the resolution of a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, as doctors' groups decided to boycott future meetings.

The consultative body was launched on November 11 as part of efforts to resolve the medical crisis sparked after thousands of junior doctors left their workplaces in a mass resignation since February in protest against the government's decision to sharply raise the medical school quota, Yonhap news agency reported. In Sunday's meeting, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) and the Korea Association of Medical Colleges decided to drop out of the consultative body, according to their officials. "We have confirmed there is no point of further negotiations as the government and the ruling party do not have the will to resolve the current situation," said Lee Jin-woo, president of KAMS. Lee Man-hee, a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, told reporters the medical community has called for changing the medical school quota for next year, but it was difficult to accept the request given that the college admission process has already kicked off.

"The representatives at the consultative body have decided to suspend official meetings considering the situation," Lee said, noting he is unsure when the meetings will be resumed. "But the government and the ruling party will continue to hold talks with the medical community," the lawmaker added. Meanwhile, the newly elected chief of South Korea's largest doctors' advocacy group last week urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to revise his medical reform to resolve the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.

Park Hyung-wook made the call after being elected as the new chief of the emergency committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), Yonhap reported. "President Yoon Suk Yeol is the only one who can improve policies to allow trainee doctors to return (to duty), and unless the president changes, the problem will persist and the people will continue to suffer from the medical crisis," he said.