Roh Yeon-hong, chairman of the presidential medical reform special committee, speaks during the group's inaugural meeting at Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

A presidential committee to discuss the government's medical system reform drive was launched on Thursday, but got off to a shaky start as doctors, key stakeholders in the talks, boycotted the meeting to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol's plan to increase the enrollment quota at Korea's medical schools.

Doctors' groups said their participation will be meaningless if their opinions are not reflected, reiterating their stance that the government should scrap the quota hike plan first before engaging in any dialogue.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the committee held its first meeting with the members, including government officials and private-sector experts.

"During the meeting, the committee decided to focus on four main pillars of medical reform tasks and announce a detailed roadmap within the first half of this year," the committee's chairman, Roh Yeon-hong, said in a press briefing after the meeting at the Government Complex Seoul.

Roh said the committee had determined its priorities, aiming to enhance the training environment for junior doctors, overhaul the compensation system for critical medical services, mitigate the overcrowding of patients in major hospitals, and establish safety measures for doctors concerning medical accidents.

Roh, however, said the committee's mandate does not include discussions on the government's proposal to increase the number of medical school seats by 2,000, up from the current 3,058, starting next year. This plan has triggered a walkout by over 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors during the last two months.

Initially, the government aimed to resolve the standoff between doctors and the government through committee discussions involving representatives recommended by doctors and hospital groups.

However, three doctors' groups opted not to recommend their representatives as a show of protest against the quota hike plan.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country's largest doctors' coalition, has been reiterating its stance that it will not engage in discussions unless the government withdraws the plan.

The Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), a group of interns and residents, has not been responding to the committee's invitations.

The KMA and KIRA are key organizations representing the country's medical community, boasting tens of thousands of doctors as members.

With their absence, the committee cannot ensure the implementation of policies discussed, potentially undermining the legitimacy of the government's medical reform initiatives.

"My primary objective is invigorating the committee, and this requires doctor groups' participation," Roh said. "I hope the KMA and KIRA participate and share their opinions."

A visitor at Chungnam National University Hospital reads a banner posted by doctors and professors of the hospital in Daejeon, Thursday. Yonhap

Against this backdrop, major hospitals remained cautious about potential disruptions in their services, as resignations submitted by their medical professors were scheduled to take effect from Thursday. Professors have been tendering their resignations in solidarity with trainee doctors since March 25.

Korea's civil law specifies that a resignation becomes effective a month after its submission, unless other circumstances dictate otherwise. However, there are conflicting interpretations regarding whether medical professors are subject to this law.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong urged in a separate government meeting Thursday that doctors should express their opinions reasonably at the dialogue table, rather than resorting to collective actions such as resignations or strikes.

As doctors continue to ignore the committee, civic groups are expressing concerns, suggesting that the panel will only hasten the commercialization of the country's medical services. They argue that Roh's dual role as the chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

"The government has appointed the chairman of a lobby group representing biopharmaceutical firms' interests… Roh also served as the health and welfare secretary for the previous Lee Myung-bak administration, during which the government faced strong public protest over its policies aimed at commercializing the country's medical services," Free Healthcare Movement Headquarters, a federation of health care-related civic groups, said in a statement.