Amid deadlock, rift emerges in Korean Medical Association

South Korea's largest doctors association is facing difficulties bringing the medical circle together to seek a breakthrough in the ongoing medical standoff, as a majority of surveyed members have lost confidence in the group's chief, showing signs of an apparent internal rift.

In a survey of 1,283 respondents conducted by several delegates of the Korean Medical Association, 978 -- 76.8 percent -- responded favor of holding a vote of no confidence in the group's president, Lim Hyun-taek, indicating that they are dissatisfied with his work, according to the medical community on Sunday.

An initial count of votes on Sept. 12 showed that 76.8 percent of those surveyed wished to petition to hold a vote of no confidence in the KMA president. The final tallied results for the voting, which ended on Friday, showed that more than 77 percent of the participants voted in favor of holding a no confidence vote, according to Yonhap News Agency.

However, the number of members who voted in favor of holding a vote of no confidence was less than one-quarter of the total number of members eligible to vote (approximately 14,500), which is the requirement for proposing such a motion, according to local reports.

The KMA did not disclose further information on the survey, such as exactly how many of the group's total members participated in this vote.

The negative sentiment comes after Lim, known for his hawkish stance toward the government's plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota, has struggled to produce concrete results as of yet amid the ongoing deadlock over medical sector reform since he took office in May, according to some observers.

The KMA has continually urged that the government scrap the quota hike for the 2025 academic year, citing concerns over the decline in the quality of medical education and the country's highly-regarded health care system.

It is also the precondition required by the doctors' group to join the four-way consultative body including Yoon Suk Yeol government, the ruling and opposition parties to discuss medical reform.

The government has, on the other hand, ruled out reversing its quota hike for 2025, and medical schools have started receiving applicants for early admissions. But officials said they are open to revisiting the medical school quota for the 2026 school year if the medical circle proposes a "reasonable alternative."

Meanwhile, gesturing towards the doctors, the presidential office said Sunday that it plans to launch a new consultative body to analyze the exact number of future health care workforce needed.

A senior presidential office official speaking anonymously told Yonhap that the committee aims to reflect the medical community's opinion so that the appropriate increase in the medical quota can be discussed without being set on adding 2,000 more admissions places.

Apart from the quota hike issue, Lim has struggled to come up with unified demands for the medical circle that include the diverse voices of physicians, interns and residents as well as medical students.

Park Dan, leader of the Korean Intern Resident Association, recently said that Lim "does not represent junior doctors who have resigned and medical students on leave of absence," and that he is unwilling to engage in any discussions or negotiations with the KMA chief.

In late August, the GyeongGi-Do Medical Association urged Lim to resign in a statement, stressing that he had "failed to fulfill his responsibilities" as the group's president.

"The Lim Hyun-taek administration should immediately cease its attempts to disregard and ignore junior doctors and medical students, and we advise that Lim voluntarily resign in line with the wishes of medical students and junior doctors, who are at the center of the standoff," the Aug. 31 statement read.