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Why thousands of doctors in South Korea are striking - and defying deadlines to return to work

The doctors-in-training have continued their labour action past the Thursday (Feb 29) deadline to report back to work, and now risk facing prosecution and suspension of their medical licence.

Mar 1, 2024, Channel News Asia

Thousands of junior doctors in South Korea walked off the job last week, to protest against the government’s plan to raise the number of students admitted into medical schools.

The striking doctors-in-training have continued their labour action past the Thursday (Feb 29) deadline to report back to work, and now risk facing prosecution and suspension of their medical licence.

Why are junior doctors protesting?

Doctors, who are considered essential workers in South Korea, are restricted by law from striking.

But some 9,000 medical interns and residents - about 80 per cent of the trainee workforce - have been on strike since Feb 20, disrupting services at major hospitals, which have been forced to cancel surgeries and turn away some patients.

Most striking doctors remained off the job on Friday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Their main gripe?

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government wants to boost medical school admissions by 2,000 a year, from the current 3,058 to alleviate a shortage of doctors and a looming demographic crisis. The plan is meant to eventually add up to 10,000 doctors by 2035.

Some observers believe the striking junior doctors are concerned that adding more doctors would result in a lower income.

“So junior doctors are complaining about their long working hours and low pay,” health policy and management professor Yoon Kim of Seoul National University College of Medicine told CNA’s Asia Tonight on Wednesday.

“What they are really concerned about is that increasing numbers of medical doctors would be less income for them when they finish their residency and get a job in hospitals, or open a clinic.”

Medical interns and resident doctors are also complaining that the government should focus on their working conditions, instead of making plans to sharply increase medical school admissions to cope with shortages and a fast-ageing population.

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