Roh Yeon-hong, chairman of the presidential committee for medical reform, speaks during a press conference at the Government Complex in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Starting this year, the government will pour more than 10 trillion won ($7.5 billion) into vital health care services such as emergency care and neurosurgery over the next five years as a means of attracting doctors to unpopular-yet-necessary fields.

The presidential committee for medical reform approved the scheme, Friday, to significantly increase the government's support for some 3,000 medical services, including surgeries for organ transplantation and pediatric intensive care.

This move aims to address the worrying tendency of doctors shunning essential specializations over more lucrative ones such as cosmetic surgery. Under the national health insurance system, hospitals can only receive a fixed fee for essential medical care from patients, but fees set by the government have long been criticized for being too low to cover costs.

In the coming months, the government will increase cost-coverage rates for 800 services such as anesthesia. Based on the results of its comprehensive review of all health care services, it plans to raise compensation for some 2,200 other services in the following years.

Factors such as whether the service requires high-level technique and whether the service provider works at a hospital in a rural area will be considered to determine support levels, according to the committee and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The expansion of support for certain services is the second phase of the government project to make such services more accessible for more patients, particularly those living in regional and remote areas, amid nationwide shortages of physicians.

This announcement comes as the government forges ahead with its health care reform plan despite fierce opposition from doctors.

Frustrated with the government's earlier decision to hike medical school enrollment quotas, more than 10,000 trainee physicians — a crucial part of large hospitals in Korea — walked off their jobs in February, disrupting the operations of many medical institutions ever since.

The impact of their collective walkout has been profound mainly because of the hospitals' heavy dependence on their cheap labor. The government reform scheme also includes plans to reduce that reliance through structural reforms and to improve their training programs.

Roh Yeon-hong, chairman of the committee, said he would continue to press ahead with the project despite opposition, with a clear goal of completing major reform plans by the end of 2028.

In the announcement, the committee also said it would launch a consultative body later this year to help determine medical school enrollment quotas for the academic year of 2026 among other long-term medical issues, urging doctors to join the discussion.

So far, organizations representing physicians, in an overwhelmingly united voice, have called on the ministry to rescind the quota hike decision while refusing to accept anything less than that.

Speaking at a press conference held the previous day, President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed not to back down on his medical reform agenda, saying the quota decision has been "finalized."