Unique Features and Reforms of the Korean Healthcare System

Korea's healthcare system has forcibly incorporated private doctors and private medical institutions into the National Health Insurance, which is known as the Compulsory Designation System for Healthcare Institutions. This system is connected to multiple regulatory layers. In addition to these structural contradictions, increasing civil and criminal liabilities imposed on medical professionals have accelerated the exodus from essential medical services. The 2024 essential healthcare policy package proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the rapid expansion of medical school admissions completely ignored the structural problems of Korea's healthcare system. Primarily, the Korean healthcare system must restore systemic coherence. If regulations not imposed on the general public are applied to physicians in the name of public healthcare, a system must be created within which the advancement of medical services and the quality of life for physicians can be ensured. This is the only way to advance public healthcare in Korea.