(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on March 12)

The ongoing dispute between the government and doctors is showing signs of escalating. A group of senior physicians, mostly holding professorships at medical schools, are poised to join the collective action initiated by the trainee doctors. The Medical Professors Association of Korea, composed of representatives from 33 medical colleges across the country, held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the issue in Seoul. The meeting drew special attention as it was the first of its kind since junior doctors tendered their resignations en masse in protest against the government plan to increase the enrollment quota at medical schools by 2,000 additional places per year. The senior doctors stopped short of expressing their intention to resign en masse. Yet they threatened to do so should the junior doctors fail to return to the hospitals for good with their medical licenses intact. As of Friday, the number of trainee doctors who left their places of work amounted to 12,000 or 93 percent of the total. Earlie r, a group of medical doctors at the Seoul Asan Medical Center decided to tender their resignations Thursday. It is a pity to see the medical conflict intensifying, further disrupting the medical services and aggravating the inconveniences felt by patients and their families. Instead of attempting to come to some sort of compromise with the doctors, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been adopting tough countermeasures, further exacerbating the clash. For instance, the Defense Ministry said that Monday it decided to send 20 military medical doctors to civilian hospitals. Up to 140 doctors from public institutes are also planned to be dispatched to the hospitals. Yoon vowed to take resolute steps against the collective action, which he described as being made at the cost of the people's lives. "We will relentlessly press for the medical reforms without fail for the people," Yoon said during a meeting at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, Wednesday. Yoon cannot deflect criticism f or such a remark, as it was largely taken to mean that the government would not budge an inch from its original stance. It is natural for the government to employ stern measures against the collective actions of the doctors considering that it will threaten the lives of many patients. The doctors have come under growing criticism for their seemingly arrogant notion that the government and the people cannot defeat doctors at all. If the Yoon administration backs down this time, the much-needed medical reform will fail for good. Despite this, the government must consider all potential scenarios. Even if doctors turn their backs on patients, the government should take action to address the situation. In addition to the monthly 200 billion won from the National Health Insurance, the government allocated over 100 billion won ($75.8 million) as an extra budget to address the medical vacuum caused by the doctors' strike. However, such a fiscal solution will encounter limitations if the dispute continues. Medical staff active on various sites are currently grappling with severe fatigue, while patients are growing increasingly desperate for surgeries and other medical treatments. The situation has deteriorated to the extent that nurses are now expected to take on complex responsibilities such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and prescribing emergency drugs, effectively stepping into the roles typically held by doctors. However, concerns are mounting over the potential for medical accidents and gaps in this arrangement. All told, President Yoon should refrain from coming to the forefront of the issue in dealing with the problem. Instead, he needs to sit back so that the prime minister or health minister can do it. Yoon should be aware of the criticism that he has been taking advantage of the current medical conflict ahead of the April 10 general elections. However, Yoon's approval rating has continued to pick up recently, apparently riding on the strict steps taken against the striking doctors. It is high time for the Yoon administration to find a solution to minimize the possible damage arising from the medical dispute. Doctors, for their part, should also come to the table soon to explore prudent ways of resolving the dispute, thus retaining the trust of the people. Source: Yonhap News Agency