Will the 22nd Assembly find keys to resolving medical crisis at its 1st parliamentary audit?

The 22nd National Assembly will launch its first parliamentary audit of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Oct. 7.

Issues resulting from the government’s unilateral push to increase the medical school enrollment quota, including the protracted healthcare crisis, challenges in medical education, and the supply of military doctors, will likely be handled as critical issues at related standing committees, including the Health and Welfare Committee.

The Health and Welfare Committee will audit 42 government agencies, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), starting Oct. 7.

The committee will inspect the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Oct. 10 and the National Health Insurance Service and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Oct. 16. On Oct. 23, the committee will finish its audit at the Korean National Tuberculosis Association.

While the committee focused its audit on the process and procedures of medical school recruitment at two previous hearings on the medical crisis in June and August, it will likely shift its focus to how to resolve the longstanding government-doctor conflict in the forthcoming session, according to political and medical sources.

The committee has yet to select witnesses and testifiers for the inspection, and the ruling and opposition lawmakers are discussing the matter. Park Dan, leader of the Korean Intern Resident Association emergency committee, will likely be one of the people to testify at the panel. The committee will soon hold a plenary meeting to discuss the adoption of witnesses and testifiers.

The Education Committee is set to conduct an intensive audit of medical education, which will likely become turbulent as the college entrance process enterse full swing, starting with the rolling recruitment for the 2025 academic year amid massive leave of absence by existing medical students.

The Education Committee will audit 70 institutions from Oct. 8 to 24, starting with eight institutions, including the Ministry of Education and the National Education Commission, on Oct. 8.

Seoul National University and Seoul National University Hospital will be the first national universities to be inspected on Oct. 15.

Field inspections are also scheduled at national university hospitals, which increased their enrollment quota according to government policy.

The National Defense Committee is expected to raise questions about measures to supply and demand military doctors. Concerns have been raised that a military medical gap is inevitable due to the decline in the number of medical cadets. The controversy over dispatching military doctors to university hospitals to prevent medical gaps is also expected.

The committee will inspect 68 agencies from Oct. 8 to 24. It will start with the Armed Forces Medical Command and the Armed Forces Nurse Academy on Oct. 8 and then the Military Manpower Administration on Oct. 11.