PPP candidates urge gov't to exercise flexibility in medical school quota hike

All News 15:28 March 29, 2024

SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Some candidates of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) called Friday for the government to take a flexible attitude in the number of medical school admissions it wants to increase, instead of pushing forward with its original plan of 2,000 additions.

The request came amid concerns that a walkout by trainee doctors protesting the hike could further hurt the party's chances in the April 10 general elections amid growing predictions that the opposition bloc could win a resounding victory.

"Now the doctor-government conflict has become a major burden," former Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, a four-term lawmaker seeking reelection in the Yongsan district in central Seoul, said in a radio interview.

"We can do this in a gradual manner ... We need to show some flexibility," he said.

Other candidates running for the country's capital areas, considered key battlegrounds in the April general elections, made similar requests.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a doctor-turned-lawmaker currently vying in a district in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul, has proposed recalculating the additional number of doctors necessary and a gradual increase in the medical school enrollment quota.

He said the government's sincerity will be called into question if it merely proposes discussions with doctors while remaining steadfast about the 2,000-seat increase.

The PPP's leadership is also requesting Yoon's shift in stance.

Urging a prompt resolution, the PPP's secretary general, Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, reiterated that the government should engage in "constructive dialogue that is open to all agendas" regarding the doctors' protests.