Renowned philosopher Kim Hyung-suk had lunch with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday and expressed his disappointment at medical professors’ mass resignations in support of a walkout by junior doctors, the presidential office said.

Kim, a 104-year-old professor emeritus of Yonsei University and the author of numerous books, was invited to lunch at the presidential office, where the two discussed the Yoon administration’s policies, including its standoff with the medical community over its plan to increase medical school admissions starting next year, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.

“I’m a professor too, but it’s not desirable that medical school professors are collectively following the collective action of trainee doctors by submitting mass resignations, instead of dissuading them,” the philosopher was quoted as saying. “It’s disappointing.”

Kim praised Yoon for repairing South Korea’s ties with Japan and “correcting” what he described as the previous administration’s failures, in
cluding its income-driven growth initiative and nuclear phase-out policy.

He also expressed his wish that Yoon focus on “properly realizing” the value of liberal democracy in various fields after the parliamentary elections next week.

Source: Yonhap News Agency