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| ▲ Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People Power Party, attends a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Nov. 4, 2024. (Yonhap) |
doctors walkout-consultative body
Ruling party aims to launch consultative body with opposition, gov't, doctors next week
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) said Monday it aims to launch a consultative body with the main opposition party, the government and doctors next week to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.
PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said the body will be kicked off next Monday even without the participation of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP).
"It would be ideal if everyone started together, but if the DP continues to refuse participation and insist on preconditions as it is doing now, the rest of us -- the PPP, the government and the medical community -- will start off by ourselves," he said.
In September, the government and the PPP proposed the establishment of a four-way consultative body involving rival parties and the medical community to discuss the government's medical reform plan that centers on raising the medical school admissions quota to around 2,000 annually for the next five years or so.
Although the DP initially agreed to the consultative body, it has stayed lukewarm about the proposal, citing the lack of participation of trainee doctors.
Thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces in the form of a mass resignation since February, with the medical community calling for the government to review the hike in the medical school quota from scratch.
While the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences and the Korea Association of Medical Colleges agreed to participate in the body last month, the Korea Medical Association, the country's largest group of doctors, has boycotted the initiative, calling for the government to scrap the hike plan before engaging in any form of dialogue.
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