One day ahead of the planned strike by trainee physicians, Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo urged them to retract the move and reiterated the need to increase medical school admissions quotas.

He emphasized that doctors should resolve healthcare issues through dialogue, but strongly warned that the government would take stern measures if the walkout threatens the public's health and safety.

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo addresses a public message on Thursday, urging doctors to reconsider their planned strike.

Park announced a public message on Thursday, regarding the planned strike by physicians.

The minister noted that the government’s push for more doctors was inevitable because Korea has a relatively small number of doctors per population compared to OECD members, and there was too much gap in medical services between regions in Korea.

Also, the nation needs to respond to infectious diseases, including Covid-19, actively, and nurture more doctors to meet the needs of essential services such as emergency medicine.

“Increasing admission quotas at medical schools is a crucial policy to raise the quality of medical services in rural areas. We need it to ensure that no matter where people live, they should be able to get quality treatment,” Park said.

Some people worry that the government’s policy may push up the number of clinic owners in the already-saturated Seoul metropolitan area, but it will never do so, he said.

Park said the government was willing to have a dialogue with doctors.

He also asked for the understanding and cooperation of trainee physicians who plan to strike on Friday.

“We understand trainee doctors’ demand for an improvement of medical training and the state support,” Park said. “To improve training environment for better education, we will make an aggressive effort and work with them to devise up support measures.”

For close communication with trainee physicians, the health ministry and the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) have already agreed to make a communication body together, Park noted.

KIRA and the vice health minister will hold a meeting on Thursday afternoon to continue sincere discussions, he added.

However, Park made it clear that the government would take stern measures if the medical community’s collective action harms public health.

He raised concerns that the doctors’ strike, particularly amid the Covid-19 crisis, could endanger people’s safety. He urged physicians to refrain from joining the walkout and solve issues through dialogue and consultation.

“A doctor is a noble profession that starts with Hippocrates Oath putting a patient’s health and life first. The government will spare no resources to help medical professionals work with greater pride,” he said.

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