President Park Geun-hye set out an argument of 'good deficit' on July 18, making a comment regarding the role of local medical centers for the first time ever. The stance was publicly expressed 50 days after the closure of Jinju Medical Center was announced. Yet Park's remarks have been received with some criticism. This stance expressed after such constant silence throughout the whole process of the center's closure is like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted.

President Park never articulated her position while Governor Hong Joon-pyo of South Gyeongsang Province peremptorily pushed forward to shut down Jinju Medical Center. The only instance of Park making any comment concerning this issue was at a closed lunch with the ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers, hosted by Cheongwadae on April 15.

She said, "It is important to know what created the current circumstances about Jinju Medical Center: we need to know detailed facts. I will have relevant facts known as truthfully as possible and follow the wishes of the people in the Province." On the one hand, the equivocal stance caused concerns about potential downsizing of public healthcare system by this government. At the presidential election, Park promised to "promote public hospitals such as local medical centers as local strategic points."

On the other hand, Park showed lukewarm attitude to resolve the Jinju Medical Center situation: it almost looked as if she regarded it as a matter limited to a local government. The Democratic and other opposition parties urged the president to settle the problem, attacking the government's seeming regression in its welfare commitment-a criticism met with complete silence from Park.

Meanwhile, Governor Hong officially announced the closure of Jinju Medical Center on May 29. The Ministry of Health and Welfare played no part in resuscitating the hospital. Even though the Ministry had a flood of demands to issue an order for operation so that Jinju Medical
Center can be brought back to normalcy, its only response was to reiterate its position: "The Medical Service Act does not have provisions to allow the Minister of Health and Welfare to act: the Minister cannot issue an order to a head of local government under this Act.

That is why it is difficult [to issue and order] from an administrative point of view." After the decision to close down the center was finalized, Minister Chin Young made a comment: "Public healthcare should be reinforced even further. It is very regrettable that Jinju Medical Center has been closed." Governor Hong, in the mean time, has always maintained a hardline stance and recently, he even refused to appear as a witness at the Special Committee for National Assembly Investigation on Public Healthcare.

Then much belatedly, President Park stressed the need for local medical centers for public healthcare at the first meeting of Presidential Committee on Regional Development on July 18. She also asked that specialized roles of these facilities be reinforced, such as building emergency medical service network and treating patients suffering from industrial accidents. Park made her point by saying, "We seem to have a new expression called, 'good deficit.' If this is a part of what is necessary in implementing our public healthcare service, we need to make an improvement in the process, for instance, with government support." However, the opposition parties still have reservations about Park's remarks, given her prior responses to the Jinju Medical Center issue.