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Associated Press

South Korea’s president vowed Monday not to back down in the face of vehement protests by doctors seeking to derail his plan to drastically increase medical school admissions, as he called their walkouts “an illegal collective action” that poses “a grave threat to our society”.
About 12,000 medical interns and residents in South Korea have been on strike for six weeks, causing hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments at university hospitals.
In support of their action, many senior doctors at their teaching schools have also submitted resignations though they haven’t stopped treating patients.
Officials say they want to raise the yearly medical school cap by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to create more doctors to deal with the country’s rapidly ageing population.

Doctors counter that schools can’t handle such an abrupt increase in students and that it would eventually hurt the country’s medical services.
But critics say doctors, one of the best-paid professions in South Korea, are simply worried that the supply of more doctors would result in lower future incomes.
South Korean doctor’s death piles pressure on overwhelmed healthcare system
Public surveys show that a majority of South Koreans support the government’s push to create more doctors.
But observers say many people are increasingly fed up with the protracted confrontation between the government and doctors, threatening to deal a blow to governing party candidates ahead of next week’s parliamentary elections.
In a nationally televised address, President Yoon Suk-yeol said adding 2,000 medical students is the minimum increase needed to address a shortage of physicians in rural areas, the military and essential but low-paying professions like paediatrics and emergency departments.
Yoon said South Korea’s doctor-to-patient ratio – 2.1 physicians per 1,000 people – is far below the average of 3.7 in the developed world.
“Increasing the number of doctors is a state project that we can’t further delay,” Yoon said.
Yoon urged the striking doctors to return to work, saying they have a responsibility to protect people’s lives in line with the local medical law.

He also said the government remains open to talks if doctors come up with a unified proposal that adequately explains why adding 2,000 more students is too steep of an increase.
“I can’t tolerate an attempt to carry through their thoughts by force without due logic and grounds,” Yoon said. “The illegal collective action by some doctors has become a grave threat to our society.”
Yoon said the recruitment plan won’t lead to lower earnings for doctors, citing what he called expected increases in national income and demand for medical services in the fast-ageing society. He said the average income of South Korean doctors is the highest in the developed world.
Yoon’s speech is expected to draw an angry response from doctors, who have maintained they can have serious talks only when the government drops its increased enrolment plan. They deny opposing the plan over worries about future incomes.
South Korea doctors ask ILO to intervene as strike shows no signs of ending
Yoon said the government is taking final administrative steps to suspend the licenses of the strikers but added he doesn’t want to punish the young doctors. This implies that his government is willing to soften punitive measures on the strikers if they return to work soon.
Yoon recently ordered officials to pursue “a flexible measure” to resolve the dispute and seek constructive consultations with doctors at the request of ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon.
The striking junior doctors represent a fraction of the total doctors in South Korea – estimated at 115,000 by Yoon and 140,000 by a doctors’ association.
But in some major hospitals, they account for about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of doctors, assisting qualified doctors and department chiefs during surgeries and other treatments while training.
Doctors say the government enrolment plan lacks measures to resolve key medical issues such as how to increase the number of physicians in some key but unpopular professions.
They say newly recruited students would also try to work in the capital region and in high-paying fields like plastic surgery and dermatology.
They say the government plan would also likely result in doctors performing unnecessary treatments due to increased competition.


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South Korea

South Korea’s Yoon vows not to back down in doctors’ strike

Wheelchairs near the entrance of a hospital in Seoul. Thousands of trainee doctors have been on strike since February 20. File photo: AFP

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. Photo: dpa

Doctors protesting in Seoul last month. File photo: Reuters 

South Korean doctor dies, reportedly from overwork, as strike piles more pressure on healthcare system

Medical professors queue to submit their resignations during a meeting at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. Photo: AP

Medical workers walk outside a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, on March 19. Photo: TNS

South Korean second vice-health minister Park Min-soo says an extra 2,000 seats will be added to medical schools by May. Photo: AP

South Korea doctors ask ILO to intervene in dispute as Yoon uses issue to ‘win votes’

Doctors in Seoul chant slogans during a rally on March 3 to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions. Photo: Reuters

A medical worker rolls a stretcher into a hospital in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: AFP 

Medical workers walk across a pedestrian crossing outside a hospital in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: AFP 

A senior citizen is seen in a wheelchair outside a hospital in Seoul. Photo: AFP 

South Korea doctors’ walkout leaves those in need of care in limbo: ‘they should stay with patients’

A patient stands at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Reuters

Doctors wearing masks attend a rally against the government’s medical policy in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: AP

South Korea to improve striking doctors’ pay, says healthcare crisis ‘an exaggeration’

Doctors take part in a rally to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions in Seoul. Photo: Reuters

South Korean lawmakers hold a meeting to over the prolonged collective action by trainee doctors nationwide, protesting the government’s plan to expand medical student admissions. Photo: EPA-EFE

South Korea senior doctors quit, escalating crisis as officials threaten to revoke trainee licences

Doctors protest against the government’s medical policy in Seoul on March 3. Photo: AP

Second Vice-Health Minister Park Min-soo on March 4 reiterates the government’s plan to take punitive measures against striking doctors. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

Doctors stage a rally against the government’s medical policy in Seoul on March 3. Photo: AP 

A lecture room is seen at a medical school in Daegu. South Korea is pressing ahead with its vow to suspend the licences of thousands of junior doctors who have walked off their jobs. Photo: Yonhap via AP 

Many large hospitals in South Korea rely on junior doctors, who work long hours for lower pay. Photo: Yonhap via AP 

Park In-Sook of the Korean Medical Association speaks at a press briefing in Seoul on March 5. Photo: EPA-EFE 

Doctors attend a rally in Seoul against the government’s medical reforms on March 3. Photo: AP

News

Asia

East Asia

President Yoon Suk-yeol urges doctors to end impasse over trainees as strike drags on
Trainee doctors stopped working six weeks ago to protest proposed training reforms


About 12,000 medical interns and residents in South Korea have been on strike for six weeks, causing hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments at university hospitals.


Yoon Suk-yeol

South Korea’s Yoon vows not to back down in doctors’ strike

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}President Yoon Suk-yeol urges doctors to end impasse over trainees as strike drags on Trainee doctors stopped working six weeks ago to protest proposed training reforms

President Yoon Suk-yeol urges doctors to end impasse over trainees as strike drags on

Trainee doctors stopped working six weeks ago to protest proposed training reforms