section_path: Presidency (2022–2025)/Medical crisis
section_name: Medical crisis
paragraph_text: Medical crisis
  
  On 6 February 2024, Yoon announced that the enrollment quota for medical students would be increased from 3,058 to 5,058 students per academic year from 2025 onward. The quota had last been fixed in 2006. The announcement was met with opposition from the medical community, with the Korea Medical Association and Korea Intern Resident Association organizing intern and resident doctor strikes and resignations since 20 February 2024. They argued that the planned increase would not resolve the issues of inadequate manpower in rural areas but would increase the inequality of medical care between rural and urban areas.
  
  Yoon gave an hour-long nation address to reaffirm the quota increase and appeal to the public. The government labeled the collective criticism and social advocacy of medical students, residents, and doctors as "doctors' illegal collective actions" and declared a national healthcare crisis of the highest risk level. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for Doctors' Collective Actions, led by the Prime Minister, was then established. The Emergency Response Headquarters conducted daily public briefings. Pro-government advertisements featured the president's commitment and included promotional videos in movie theater displays on public buses and subways, while screens inside apartment elevators criticized "emergency room ping-pong" and "pediatric clinic open run". Doctors and the medical community were portrayed as a self-serving cartel, a characterization cemented by the president in a national address.