Amid over 1 year and 3 months of legislative conflict, Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, met with the medical community and promised to 'reassess the healthcare policy of the Yoon Suk-yeol government' and reaffirmed his commitment to rebuild the collapsed healthcare system within 6 months.
On that day, Candidate Kim visited the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan, Seoul, and stated regarding the legislative conflict, 'I sincerely apologize,' emphasizing, 'If I become president, I will base healthcare policies on the opinions of the doctors.'
After the meeting, he met with reporters and pointed out the lack of national support for essential medical services such as The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, stressing, 'We must correct this miserable reality.'
Candidate Kim is reported to have promised to resolve the legislative conflict issue even faster than the previously stated 'within 6 months.'
Immediately after the closed-door meeting, Korean Medical Association spokesperson Kim Sung-keun noted in a briefing, '(Candidate Kim) clearly expressed an apology that the government has not made until now, which is encouraging and meaningful.' He added, 'Candidate Kim stated he would resolve the medical issues within 6 months, and today, he expressed the will to solve them even faster.'
Earlier, Candidate Kim diagnosed the current healthcare system as being in a 'collapsed state' and presented a specific deadline to restore it within 6 months. He promised to establish the 'Future Healthcare Committee' under the presidency to gather various voices from medical students, residents, private practitioners, and medical scientists.
Candidate Kim received a policy proposal from the Korean Medical Association that included ▲ innovation of the healthcare policy decision-making system ▲ restructuring of health insurance governance ▲ building a system for stable provision of essential medical services ▲ resolving regional healthcare disparities ▲ preventing medical disputes and restoring trust in the medical field.
Specific proposals reportedly included revitalizing multiple treatments in essential medical care, establishing new fees for essential medical services, expanding regional work allowances, enacting the 'Medical Accident Handling Special Law' to improve responses to medical accidents, and expanding enrollment in medical liability insurance.
Earlier, Korean Medical Association President Kim Tae-woo said, 'The confusion and distrust felt in the medical field are more serious than expected. The resolution of this situation should not be delayed any longer,' and repeatedly requested, 'I hope a transparent and reasonable structure can be established to ensure that the voices from the medical field are fully reflected in the policy-making process.'