'Frontrunner Lee Jae-myung's public med school plan may spark social conflict'

Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has pledged to establish new medical schools in Incheon, North and South Jeolla Provinces, and North Gyeongsang Province -- prompting experts to warn that the proposal for public and regional medical schools could trigger new social conflicts.

On its website Tuesday, the DPK announced plans to establish public medical schools in Incheon and both Jeolla Provinces, support the creation of a regional medical school, and attract a tertiary hospital in North Gyeongsang Province.

The creation of regional and public medical schools is one of the 10 key policy initiatives of the DPK’s presidential campaign. Lee has emphasized his commitment to strengthening public healthcare and addressing healthcare inequality by training medical professionals in public, regional, and essential medical fields.

However, policy experts offered a critical assessment of the proposal. While many acknowledged that the policy message is clear, they pointed out that a plan to address potential conflicts is lacking.

“The method and criteria for selecting regions for new medical schools should be clarified more clearly,” said Ju Hyo-jin, vice president of the Korean Association for Policy Studies and professor at the Catholic Kwandong University’s School of Medical Humanities. He made the comments at a seminar titled “What We Want from the 21st President,” co-hosted by the association and the Korean Medical Association.

The association’s evaluation of the pledge was based on four criteria: specificity of goals, problem-solving ability (situational appropriateness), sustainability, and social consensus. Professor Ju, Professor Park Soo-hyun of CHA University, and Professor Hwang Suk-joon of the Department of Public Administration at Kongju National University participated in the evaluation.

The evaluators noted that while Lee’s pledge to strengthen regional, essential, and public healthcare is likely to gain public support, it requires more thorough communication with the medical community to minimize the potential for conflict during implementation.

“Step-by-step conflict resolution plans should be designed and implemented—for instance, by reorganizing the healthcare governance structure and establishing a stakeholder council,” they advised.

The experts also pointed out that the ongoing parliamentary conflict over the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s policy to increase the number of medical school students remains unresolved. Against that backdrop, they warned that the DPK’s new proposal could ignite further discord.

“The incumbent administration increased the existing quota by 2,000, which led to a medical crisis. However, candidate Lee pledged to create public medical schools without clarifying whether the quota would be kept within the existing 3,058 students, increased further, or reallocated based on the Yoon administration’s proposal,” Professor Ju said.

“It is difficult for the public and the medical community to accept the plan if the areas selected for public and regional medical schools are based on ‘political rationality,’” he added. “The DPK candidate is running to be a president who unites society, but his proposal includes elements that could fuel social conflict and hinder consensus.”