Medical students who watched the 21st presidential election expressed the hope that the change of government would also change the negotiating environment between the medical community and policymakers.

Experts are also watching to see if the students’ hopes will be fulfilled and if the government-doctor conflict will reach a turning point.

“I hope the new government will provide a breakthrough in resolving the government-doctor conflict,” said a medical student, initialized as Mr. A, who took a leave of absence from a medical school in Seoul. “The issue of medical students returning to school and medical education should also be discussed anew.

A student at South Jeolla Province initialized as Ms. B, also said, “I think it will be possible to negotiate with more common sense now that the people who were in a hurry to push for ‘healthcare reform’ will be replaced. I hope the new president will keep his word.”

On May 6, candidate Lee called for the return of medical students and trainee doctors, promising to reprimand those responsible for increasing the medical school enrollment quota and to revisit essential medical care policies. These were key issues that medical students and junior doctors have been demanding throughout the conflict between the medical community and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Calls to negotiate with Lee Jae-myung's administration regarding return to schools and hospitals have been shared online since before the presidential election.

“Regime change had long been a fait accompli, and we should have made the most of it,” Mr. A said.

Mr. C, a medical student in the southeastern Gyeongsang area, cited many similar postings on their community's social media, saying, “If Lee wins, things will change, and it's good for the medical community. The expectation is that Lee’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will be able to offer more favorable conditions to (medical students) because they will have to show that they can quickly resolve the mistakes of the previous administration."

Ms. D, a student at a medical school in the Seoul metro region, also said, "I often read that it's better to return (after negotiations) after the Lee Jae-myung administration takes office. There is no evidence, but there is a strong sentiment that if the regime changes, it will be better than now.”

However, it's unclear whether such expectations will become a reality. President Lee hasn't made any additional specific comments since May 6.

“I'm not sure how much importance he attaches to the issue of having medical students return to schools,” Mr. C said. Ms. B agreed, saying, "There is a vague sense of, 'Maybe after the election, it will be different.' But I don't think there's a lot of evidence or conviction behind it,"

The DPK has also been wary of such expectations.

“They (medical students and junior doctors) seem to think that if the government changes, they will have a better chance and get more, so they use it as a means of struggle, but the DPK does not consider this,” said Kang Cheong-hee, chair of the special committee on healthcare, at the science and healthcare pledge debate on May 28. Kang also made it clear that “returning is a matter for them to decide.”

On May 29, Cho Won-joon, a senior expert member of the DPK Policy Committee, also said at a meeting with reporters, “You must wake up from the illusion that you would return under better conditions after the new government takes office, adding that no matter which government comes into power, it is difficult to make additional special conditions (for return).”

Two days later, on May 31, two DPK lawmakers – Reps. Kang Sun-woo and Kim Yoon, both members of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee -- met with medical students and residents, but only to emphasize interaction. At a policy meeting organized by the Korea Medical Policy School, the two lawmakers said they wanted medical students and junior doctors to actively voice their opinions in the healthcare policy process. They advised that "medical students and young doctors should be able to demand such a structure."

At a news conference on Wednesday, Korea Medical Association (KMA) President Kim Taek-woo also proposed a dialog between the medical community and the new government.

"Please resolve the current medical crisis, which is a top national priority," Kim said. "I hope a forum for communication with the medical community will be established."

Doctors call for ‘new government to punish old officials’ to regain trust

Meanwhile, there is also an expectation that the Lee administration will focus on restoring trust in the medical community to resolve the medical crisis.

Medical sources said the first step in restoring trust is to punish officials responsible for the policy of increasing the number of medical students. Dialog with the medical community is crucial to resolving the medical crisis, and a reason is needed to bring them to the negotiating table.

The medical community has been demanding that Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong and Second Vice Minister Park Min-soo, who were at the forefront of the policy to increase medical school capacity, be reprimanded.

While he was a candidate, President Lee also wrote on his Facebook page, “So far, those responsible, including Vice Minister Park, have not taken any responsibility. This is unacceptable. For a genuine dialog, it must be corrected," implying that those responsible should be reprimanded.”

A DPK official remained cautious in this regard, however.

“Many within our party think something needs to be done to solve the medical crisis, but the specific issues need to be organized through discussions among the party, the government, and the presidential office. The previous government offered all the cards it could use, such as freezing the number of medical school students for the next year, and left. There remain little policy materials to use as leverage," he told Korea Biomedical Review over the phone on Wednesday.

“However, first and foremost, trust must be restored,” the official said. "The first demand from young doctors and the medical community is to punish those responsible. It's a way of saying that no matter the negotiations, we will not sit at the table where those responsible are in charge. Once that's cleaned up, we can sit at the table.”

He called for the medical community to voice forward-thinking views toward the new government. Given that the DPK's position is that better conditions for medical students and resigned trainee doctors to return to work are “realistically difficult,” the medical community needs to send a message.

"We all hope that trust between the two parties will be restored quickly and that this will lead to progress on the issue of medical schools,” the official said. "The medical community needs to develop new proposals (based on the changed situation) rather than continuing to send the same message. They must make proposals that will force the government to move."