Anchor: President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the head of a group representing trainee doctors in the nation who resigned en masse in protest of the government's plan to increase the number of doctors in the nation. According to the presidential office, Yoon carefully listened to the trainee doctors' representative, and promised to ensure that their position will be respected as the government discusses the reform measures with the medical community. However, the trainee doctors’ representative after the meeting hinted that the talks did not go well, saying there is no future for the nation’s medical service. 
Kim Bum-soo has more.  

Report: President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the head of the nation’s trainee doctors’ group amid the ongoing dispute over the government’s medical reform plan.  

The presidential office said in a statement to reporters that Yoon held a closed-door meeting with Park Dan, emergency committee chief of the Korean Intern Resident Association on Thursday afternoon. 

Yoon is said to have carefully listened to the trainee doctors' stance on the issue during the meeting that lasted around two hours and 20 minutes at the presidential office.  

The top office said that Yoon will ensure the opinions of the trainee doctors are respected when the government discusses its medical reform measures with relevant parties, including its plan to increase the nation's medical doctors. 

However, the trainee doctors’ representative does not appear to have found Yoon’s assurances sufficient.  

In a social media post following the meeting with the president, Park stated that “there is no future for the nation’s medical service.”  

In an internal notice to member doctors prior to the meeting, the trainee doctors' representative stated that there is no change in their demand that the government scrap its plan to increase the medical school admissions quota by two thousand seats a year. 

Park said in the message that he concluded that it is worth delivering the doctors’ position directly to the president and to try to resolve the issue ahead of the April 10 general elections.  

As the government pushed ahead with its planned hike in medical school admissions, Park and some 90 percent of the nation’s trainee doctors submitted their resignations in protest of the move in February and have yet to return to work. 

The meeting came two days after the presidential office announced Yoon's intentions to meet the trainee doctors in person.  

Yoon on Monday delivered a televised address and reaffirmed his determination to expand the number of doctors in the nation. However, he left room for dialogue, urging doctors to come up with a unified alternative proposal if they wish to reduce the medical school admissions quota in question.  
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.