"The moment the price was removed, medicine became political."
Kang Doyoon left the sentence on the glass wall of the situation room.It wasn't written with a pen.It wasn't a document.He left it as words—intentionally—so everyone could see it.
And the very next day,politics called medicine out directly.
—
"This is an act that disrupts the medical order."
An emergency press conference by the Korean Medical Association.The middle-aged doctor on the podium looked rigid.
"Medicine is not charity.""Free treatment structures will collapse the medical system."
A reporter asked,"Then what about the people Doctor Trucks saved?"
A brief silence.
He answered,"That was… an exceptional situation."
That sentence lit the fire.
—
Online opinion split in two.
— What's wrong with doctors?— If it's free, it's still taxes, isn't it?— Don't turn medicine into a show
And in between,one video was shared more than any other.
A 47-second clip from inside a Doctor Truck,CPR in progress,a patient regaining breath.
The caption was simple.
"This rescue was free."
—
Song Jaemin didn't refuse interviews that day.
"Why don't you charge?"a foreign journalist asked.
He answered simply."There wasn't time."
"No, I mean in principle."
"The principle is the same," he said."When you focus on saving someone,there's no time left to calculate."
The reporter smiled."That sounds idealistic."
Song shook his head."No.""It's extremely realistic."
—
That afternoon,several major hospital emergency rooms closed.
"Collective leave for medical normalization,"the news caption read politely.
The scene outside was not polite.
A citizen shouted in front of an ER."There are people inside!""Is this really the time to strike?"
Someone said,"Doctors are human too."
Someone else shot back immediately,"Isn't that why they save humans?"
—
During that time,Doctor Trucks grew busier.
As hospitals closed,calls flooded in.
Pressing the dispatch button, Song said,"The reason we can't strike is simple."
"When someone collapses,""they don't ask about union schedules."
—
In the TF team meeting room,Team Leader Han Seojin closed the report.
"Something's off," she said."It's not that Doctor Trucks broke medical fees—""the existing structure is what's shaking."
Doyoon asked,"Why?"
"Because comparison has started.""People are beginning to ask."
— Why is it free there?— Why does the bill come first here?
Doyoon spoke quietly."Questions always threaten systems."
—
That night,foreign media used the same sentence.
"While doctors in Korea were striking,mobile medical trucks did not stop."
Finland's Ministry of Health shared it."Is this scalable?"
French media was more blunt.
"Doctors without bills."
—
Doctor communities boiled over.
— Are they treating us like criminals?— If medicine is free, who takes responsibility?
Under one post,an anonymous comment appeared.
"Doctor Trucks didn't charge money,but we are losing trust."
—
Song Jaemin stared at that comment for a long time,then said quietly,
"This fight isn't really about money."
Doyoon asked,"Then what is it?"
"Who reaches out first," Song said."The invoice,or the heart."
—
3 a.m.
Doctor Truck No. 4 was dispatched.Strike-affected area.Suspected myocardial infarction.
Next to the dispatch log,a familiar line appeared.
Patient cost: 0
Doyoon turned off the screen.
"The question will change now," he said."Not whether free care is possible—"
He paused.
"But whether paid rescuewas ever normal to begin with."
At that moment,breaking news appeared from the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee.
— Emergency hearing convened on the "Doctor Truck Model".
Doyoon smiled.
"Now,""there's no running from it."