GOV’T-DOCTOR CLASH HEATS UP

GOV'T-DOCTOR CLASH HEATS UP

[Anchor Lead]
As the number of resident doctors submitting their resignations in protest against the increase in medical school admissions surpasses 9,000, a tense standoff intensifies between the government and medical associations. The government has declared a firm stance, pressuring the medical community, while the Korean Medical Association Emergency Response Committee has, for the first time, held a briefing to directly criticize the government's approach.

[Pkg]
The government added more pressure as resident doctors took group action. Criticizing that collective resignation is not the basic constitutional right, authorities again said that strong response measures will be taken. Pointing to the inconveniences experienced by patients, including postponed surgeries, the government said public hospitals will be brought in to fill the gap in medical services.

[Soundbite]
Park Min-soo (Second vice minister of Health and Welfare): The gov‘t will assist general hospitals with more walkouts to focus on treating seriously-ill and urgent patients.

The association of trainee doctors said the government's stern response was expected.

[Soundbite]
Park Dan (Head, Korea Intern Resident Association): We're aware of the possibility of being locked up and investigated. I have been telling other resident doctors of the possibility.

The Korean Medical Association also lodged strong protest. The doctors' group blasted the government's return to work order to residents as an oppression of their basic rights.

[Soundbite]
Joo Soo-ho (Korean Medical Association's emergency committee): The oppression of basic rights by the government that uses the people to persecute doctors has gone beyond logic.

The KMA demanded that the government's plan to increase admissions to medical schools be scrapped and doctors' working environment improved. The number of trainee doctors who have submitted their resignations at 100 training hospitals stands at 9,200 out of 13,000 resident doctors. As of 6 p.m Wednesday evening, the total number of med school students taking a leave of absence has tallied up to 11,000.

DP'S NOMINATION DISCORD

[Anchor Lead]
In the first-round internal primary of the Democratic Party, five incumbent lawmakers were ousted. Amidst this development, the nomination disputes within the party are intensifying, leading even the party elders to step forward and express their concerns. They have voiced apprehension that "the principle of system nominations is being damaged."

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Five incumbent lawmakers were eliminated in the first-round internal primary of the Democratic Party. In Gwangju, the liberal main opposition party's traditional stronghold, Jo O-seop of the Buk-gap district lost to challenger Chung Jun-ho who is a lawyer. In the Buk-eul district, Lee Hyung-seok was defeated by Jeon Jin-sook, a former member of the Gwangju City Council. In Dongnam-gap district, Yoon Young-deok lost to Jeong Jin-woon, the special political aide for party leader Lee Jae-myung. Kim Soo-heung of Iksan-gap in Jeollabuk-do Province and Song Jae-ho of Jeju-gap in Jeju-do failed to win candidate nominations. The DP announced the results of the fourth round of candidate screening on Wednesday, nominating all candidates for hard-fought battlefields along the so-called Nakdonggang River Belt in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do Province. Chun Jae-soo was selected as a single candidate for the Bukgangseo-gap district in Busan. With candidate evaluations gaining speed, an internal discord is escalating over alleged privately-motivated nominations by party chief Lee Jae-myung. Lawmakers who don't belong to Lee's faction and ranked low in the screening openly protested the results on Wednesday.

[Soundbite]
Park Young-soon (Democratic Party): Watching the nomination controversy, I cannot deny that this is a jackpot for pro-Lee members and an elimination of those who are not in his faction.

[Soundbite]
Kim Han-jung (Democratic Party): I have stayed with the Democratic Party for 36 years. Now, I am in despair over the situation that there is no place for me in the party.

Complaints about unfair nominations eruptedㄴ in a general meeting of party lawmakers. With Chairman Lee absent from the meeting, the party leadership took on the trouble of dealing with the complaints, saying they felt responsible. As internal dispute grows, former prime ministers Kim Boo-kyum and Chung Sye-kyun issued a statement as senior party members. While expressing concerns about a possible breach of democratic principles and objectivity, they urged Lee to correct the situation. After breaking up with the New Reform Party, the New Future Party is inviting the Democratic Party lawmakers opposing the nomination results to join it. So it is predicted that DP members not belonging to Lee's faction could likely leave the party en masse.

NOMINATION ROW BREWING IN PPP

[Anchor Lead]
Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party's nomination process is now marked by escalating discord. Prospective candidates excluded from nomination are protesting, with some considering an independent coalition. This unrest comes amid the absence of announcements regarding the exclusion of incumbent lawmakers from their constituencies, signaling a growing turmoil within the party over nominations.

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A preliminary candidate for the April general election stands outside the ruling People Power Party headquarters in the rain. He is a candidate from Busan, sidelined by an uncontested nomination and was therefore deprived of the chance to even compete in a primary. Most candidates based in the Gyeongsang-do region who didn't make the cut have filed objections with the party's nomination committee, even hinting at forming a coalition with nonpartisan independent candidates.

[Soundbite]
Won Young-seop (Prelim candidate for PPP ticket in Busan Jin-gap): A candidate with low chances of winning was nominated through unfair means. Forging an alliance with independents is one of many options for me.

40 of the 102 incumbent PPP lawmakers who applied for a nomination have so far received the nod. No cutoff has yet been made among sitting lawmakers representing electoral districts. Four-term lawmaker Lee Myoung-su held a press conference in protest, following a mere mention that he could be excluded from winning a nomination. Amid the grumbling and complaints, the nomination committee has not said much, only asking people to make their judgments after the full primary results are unveiled.

[Soundbite]
Chung Young-hwan (Chief, PPP Nomination Committee): (Cutoff lists?) We don't announce them formally. Candidates are notified individually.

Meanwhile, the PPP has nominated Rep. Park Jin to run in the Seodaemun-eul district. It also announced 13 constituencies where primary races will be held including Daegu Dong-eul where five candidates will battle it out including Rep. Kang Dae-sik. With the growing number of cutoffs and impending exclusions of sitting lawmakers, a somber atmosphere is building within the ruling party.

EASING GREENBELT REGULATIONS

[Anchor Lead]
President Yoon Suk Yeol held the thirteenth Policy Forum with Public yesterday, announcing policies to relax regulations related to land use. Specifically, he presented a plan to significantly lift the greenbelt restrictions in areas surrounding major cities, excluding the capital region, to promote regional development.

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The latest policy forum with the public took place in Ulsan where over 25% of land are designated greenbelt zones, restricted from development.

[Soundbite]
Kang Un-gi (Ulsan resident): Ulsan has no spare land in urban areas. Freeing greenbelts can provide sites for industrial clusters, which benefit firms, the city and self-employed.

The government has laid out measures to ease greenbelt restrictions for 6 metropolitan cities excluding the capital area. The aim is to boost local economies.

[Soundbite]
Yoon Suk Yeol (President): Industries, cities achieved remarkable growth and conditions are quite different from 50 years ago. Greenbelts stand in the way of building job-creating high-tech complexes.

Remaining greenbelt areas nationwide account for 3.8% of territory, or some 3,793 square kilometers. Of this total, 2,428 square kilometers or about 64% lie in non-capital regions. The government has decided that when local authorities pursue strategic projects aimed at regional development, they will be granted increased authority to lift greenbelt regulations regardless of the allotted quota. Also, areas that received 1 or 2 ratings in environmental assessment surveys, meaning high preservation value, will also be allowed to have greenbelt designations lifted if strategic projects were to be implemented. However in such cases, new areas will need to be named greenbelt zones as a replacement. The government added the environmental assessment evaluation system will also be revised in a more flexible way. This marks the first deregulation of greenbelt restrictions in nearly 9 years since May of 2015.

TO LIFT FARMLAND RESTRICTIONS

[Anchor Lead]
In areas facing the most severe aging and rapid population decline, rural communities stand at the brink of extinction. In response, measures to inject vitality into these rural areas have been introduced. These measures include easing development restrictions on agricultural land to increase the rural living population.

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This vertical farm in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province produces high-quality crops by precisely controlling the cultivation environment. Its crop output is 40 times larger than ordinary farms. Despite young farmers' keen interest and growing exports, many restrictions still exist for vertical farm installation. If a farmer wants to build a vertical farm on his land, he must first obtain approval for farmland use.

[Soundbite]
Kang Dae-hyeon (CEO, Vertical farm company): I don't need any permit to build a greenhouse, but I have to go through complex and costly procedures to build a vertical farm.

But it will be different, starting in the latter half of this year. The government plans to allow vertical farms to be built freely on farmland inside a rural converged industrial zone. This plan would allow small patches of land left over from road or industrial park construction to be developed. It is estimated that there are 21,000 hectares of spare farmland nationwide. It's about one-third the size of Seoul. These leftover plots couldn't be used for farming because their use was limited to agricultural purposes. As for the concern over rampant development of rural areas, the government explained the issue would be addressed through the rural space restructuring law to be enforced next month.

[Soundbite]
Han Hoon (Vice minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): The gov’t will follow the Farmland Act's basic idea while revising the relevant laws to boost the value of rural spaces and revitalize them.

The government will also institute a rural home stay program to help city residents enjoy rural life and revitalize farming villages.

NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]
The Bank of Korea has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5 percent for a ninth straight meeting since February last year. It made the decision at its monetary policy meeting on Thursday morning. The central bank maintained its previous predictions that the nation's economy will grow 2.1 percent and inflation will increase 2.6 percent this year.
The Financial Services Commission says it will expand the open banking service beyond the online platform in the second half of this year. As a result, the service, which allows customers to use any mobile banking application of their choice to access their all accounts in different banks, will be available offline at banking outlets. The offline service will be introduced on a trial basis in the second half. The FSC also said corporate customers will also be able to use the open banking service, which is currently provided only to individuals.

HEAVY SNOW POUNDS GANGWON-DO

[Anchor Lead]
Well, it's a snowy week in Korea. A heavy snow warning has been issued in Seoul, while in Gangwon-do Province, especially in the mountainous regions, snow accumulation has surpassed 60 centimeters in some areas. The heavy snow has led to damage and considerable inconvenience for residents.

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The Baekdudaegan Mountain Range is covered in deep snow. Snow fell on the mountainous areas in Gangwon-do Province for two days with some places seeing as much as over 60 centimeters piling up. Cars on the snow-covered roads are trapped in the snow. Those that made it out on the streets are barely moving forward.

[Soundbite]
Lee Hye-min (Gumi resident): Several snowplow trucks were seen on the expressway, but the snow kept pouring and the roads are still slippery.

On Donghae Expressway, a passenger car spun out of control on the icy road and crashed into a center divider, leaving four people injured. The Gangwon Fire Headquarters received 30 car accident reports in a single day. Several trees fell on the streets, unable to bear the weight of snow. Heavy snow fell mainly in the mountainous regions, causing great inconvenience to local residents. As the snow virtually block the roads, bus services running between mountain villages were shortened. Delivery workers had to struggle through deep piles of snow to get their job done.

[Soundbite]
Kim Wu-gil (Delivery worker): My truck can't make it up the mountain, so I can't go there on snowy days. Residents have to come down to pick up their packages.

Those living in mountainous regions where snow plowers cannot approach are worried about more snow piling up.

[Soundbite]
Kim Mi-hwa (Gangneung resident): My car slipped on the way up here and rammed into a crash barrier. I hope they remove the snow quickly.

As heavy snow is forecast until Friday, the Gangwon-do provincial government is doing all it can to clear the snow and make the roads safe.