Presidential office: ”Increasing the number of medical students is not a choice but a necessity” in South Korea, with number of doctors the lowest in the OECD

Regarding South Korea's record low number of clinical doctors per 1,000 people, the Presidential Office stated, "As South Korea will enter a super-aging society next year, we need to strengthen the medical college in order to protect the health of our people.
"This clearly shows that increasing the number of staff is not a choice but a necessity," he said on the 26th.
Regarding the summary of the International Statistics 2024, he said, "International statistics have once again confirmed that there is an absolute shortage of doctors in Korea."
"This shows that there is still a shortage of about 60,000 doctors, especially compared to the OECD average.
"This is an enormous figure, more than half of the total number of doctors working in the country," he said. According to the document, the number of clinical doctors (including traditional Chinese medicine doctors) per 1,000 people was 2.6 in 2022.
This puts Japan at the bottom of the OECD along with Mexico, compared with the OECD average of 3.8.
The number of outpatient consultations per capita in South Korea was 17.5, the OECD average (6.3
In addition, the wage income of doctors was the highest among OECD member states.