SEOUL: South Korea’s health minister said on Monday that authorities would begin investigating hospitals to take legal action against doctor-trainees who ignored an ultimatum to end a strike over government plans to boost medical school enrollments. About 9,000 local and internal medicine doctors, or about 70% of the country’s total, have walked off the job since February 20, causing some surgeries and treatments to be canceled and emergency departments to be overcrowded.
The protesting young doctors say the government should first address pay and working conditions before trying to increase the number of doctors. The government says the plan to increase student enrollments in medical schools by 2,000 starting in the 2025 academic year is needed in a rapidly aging society with one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in advanced economies at 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people. . According to a recent Gallup Korea poll, the plan to increase medical school enrollment is popular with the public, with about 76% of respondents in favor, regardless of political affiliation. But some critics accuse President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government of not consulting enough and of squabbling over the issue ahead of April’s parliamentary elections.
