Seoul: South Korea has suspended the medical licenses of two doctors, the Korean Medical Association said on Tuesday, in the first crackdown on a month-long strike that has caused chaos in the healthcare industry.
forcing hospitals to cancel essential treatments and operations including chemotherapy and caesarean section.
The government has repeatedly urged doctors to return to their patients and warned of legal action for non-compliance, but the standoff has spiraled, with senior doctors now threatening to join their junior colleagues and no serious negotiations taking place.
Two officials from the Korean Medical Association, which was heavily involved in the strike, were told on Monday that their licenses had been suspended for three months, allegedly for inciting the strike.
“Two officials, Kim Taek-woo and Park Myung-ha, received the notification yesterday,” spokesman Lee Seok-young told AFP.
A health ministry spokesman told AFP the government would not confirm specific administrative measures taken against individual doctors.
Seoul is pushing for 2,000 more students a year to be admitted to medical schools starting next year to address what it says is one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios among developed countries.
Doctors say they fear the reform will erode the quality of services and medical education, but supporters of the plan accuse them of trying to protect their salaries and social status.
On Tuesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol said the reforms were necessary and complained of strong opposition from doctors.
The reforms will “strengthen essential medical care in (non-core) regions,” he added.
Experts say one of the biggest problems in South Korea’s healthcare system is that many doctors are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, leading to access problems in rural areas.
Last week, the junior doctors said they had submitted an “emergency intervention letter” from the International Labor Organization (ILO), claiming the government was “forcing” them into unwanted work. The government rejected the claim.
