Consultative body on doctors' walkout fails to narrow differences in South Korea

Seoul : A consultative body involving the ruling People Power Party (PPP), the government and doctors' groups held their second round of talks on Sunday but failed to narrow their differences as they seek to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.

Thousands of trainee doctors have left their workplaces in a mass resignation since February to protest the government's decision to sharply raise the medical school quota, causing major disruptions to the national health care service, reports Yonhap news agency.

In a press briefing after the meeting held at the National Assembly, PPP spokesperson Han Zeea said the medical community and the government remained at an impasse over the admission quotas for both next year and 2026 at the meeting.

The medical community has demanded that the government revise the hike in the medical school quota from scratch, but the government has refused to adjust the 2025 quota and instead said it would revisit the quota hike plan for 2026 and beyond.

The consultative body was launched last week without participation from opposition parties.

From the medical community, one group of medical school deans and another group representing medical researchers joined the body. However, the group for junior doctors and the Korea Medical Association, South Korea's largest group of doctors, have boycotted the initiative.

Last month, the education ministry said it will temporarily allow medical students to take a leave of absence on condition that they return to school next year. The decision follows Seoul National University's move late last month to approve leave of absence requests submitted en masse in protest of the government's medical reform plans, which include increasing medical school quotas.

While reaffirming its stance that taking leave to show solidarity is not a valid reason, the ministry said its temporary measure is aimed, in part, at normalising education.

It, however, warned that students who fail to return next year will face penalties, including possible expulsion.

The ministry stressed that taking semesters off in collective protest does not "constitute legitimate grounds" for a leave of absence, but added that universities should "guarantee students the opportunity to return through individual consultation."