Civic and patient advocacy groups on Wednesday denounced the government's decision to increase medical school enrollment by 3,342 students from 2027 to 2031, calling it "an irresponsible decision that ignores demographic cliff warnings while only defending against political risks."
The National Coalition for People-Centered Healthcare Reform, comprising the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, Federation of Korean Trade Unions, and Korea Alliance of Patients' Organizations, issued a joint statement questioning the outcome.
"For two years since 2024, patients and citizens have endured the pain of medical service gaps, and healthcare workers have held together a medical system on the verge of collapse—and the reward is merely 490 additional spots in 2027?" the coalition asked.
The groups acknowledged that "the Lee Jae-myung administration faces the inevitable task of resolving the chaos left by the previous government's 2,000-seat increase plan."
However, they stressed that "what the government should do now is not pick numbers to avoid conflict, but present a consistent workforce policy and structural reform package based on national risks including population decline, disease burden, regional depopulation, and surging care demand."
The coalition noted that the population aged 65 and over surpassed 20% in 2025, and that around 2038, when baby boomers reach their mid-80s, demand for end-of-life care, severe illness treatment, chronic disease management, and long-term care will surge simultaneously—making the proposed physician training scale grossly inadequate.
"Even a 400-seat increase was blocked during the Moon Jae-in administration in 2020, and even a massive increase now would barely suffice, yet the government is trying to buy time with just 490 seats," the groups said.
They criticized the decision as "not a healthcare reform solution to prepare for a 'mass-death society'—where deaths exceed births and the population rapidly declines—but rather the result of reducing a national crisis response to political self-preservation."
Regarding the reduction from initial projections by the Physician Workforce Supply-Demand Estimation Committee, the coalition accused the government of "mere number-cutting political engineering."
"The estimation committee has been consumed as a tool to justify cutting numbers, while the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee has devolved into an apparatus for defending political risks," they charged.
The groups also pointed out that "the government's support 'gift package' is doctor-centered rather than addressing physician assistants, nurses, medical technicians, and care workers who have shouldered increased burdens since the resident collective action."
"Workforce restructuring to systematically prevent task-shifting to doctors, as well as staffing levels and treatment for healthcare workers, have been marginalized," they added.
"The two-year trajectory—from the February 2024 announcement of 2,000 additional seats to 4,567 in 2025, a freeze at 3,058 in 2026, and 3,548 in 2027—shows the government has flip-flopped based on political calculations without consistent principles," the coalition said.
They urged the government to "intensively innovate governance and present a healthcare reform package that encompasses patient safety, health rights, and labor rights beyond the bias toward the physician profession."