South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Friday summoned Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi to formally protest Japan's approval of history textbooks asserting sovereignty over the Dokdo islets and watering down the coercive nature of its wartime forced labor and sexual slavery. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul also expressed “deep regret” over the Japanese government’s approval of textbooks for middle schools that distort historical facts in a statement issued u

Foreign Affairs March 22, 2024

The Korean government’s plan to distribute the 2,000 new medical school places across the country appears to have split doctors, who have generally held a united front in opposing the expansion. While the announcement received a cold response from the country’s biggest doctors’ group, the emergency committee representing professors from 20 medical schools shared its willingness to talk with the government. The emergency committee of medical professors at Yonsei University issue

Social Affairs March 22, 2024

진행자: 박준희, Ali Abbot 68% of Korean adults living with parents won’t move out until marriage 기사요약: 결혼 전까지 독립 계획이 없는 미혼 남녀들 많아졌다 [1] A recent survey showed that the vast majority of South Korean adults living with their parents in apartments have no plans to move out until they are married. * Recent: 최근의 * Majority: 다수 * Move out: (살던 집에서) 이사를 나가다 [2] Finances were a major factor, as 32 percent said the “cost of housing is too high,” while 23 percent said, “I’m conc

Podcast March 21, 2024

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Wednesday announced the regional allocation for 2,000 new slots for students at medical schools across the country, finalizing administrative procedures for the plan it has pushed for months, despite doctors staging a large-scale walkout. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reaffirmed that the government’s plan, which was announced in February, fell in line with the Ministry of Education’s decision to allot 82 percent of the quota to medical schools outsid

Social Affairs March 20, 2024

Medical professors’ decision to tender resignations starting next week will lead to a massive medical vacuum next month, setting off a worst-case scenario where only nurses would be left to fill the void, according to experts on Tuesday. The emergency committees of medical school professors at Seoul National University and Yonsei University announced late Monday that they would submit their resignation letters next Monday. This follows Saturday’s announcement by the committee represe

Social Affairs March 19, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday urged the medical community to engage in dialogue and to trust the government, rather than refusing to bend on plans to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota. The president made the remarks during his visit to the pediatric ward of the Asan Medical Center earlier in the day. There, he met with hospital officials, including Park Seung-il, the head of the hospital and Lee Je-hwan, the vice director of medical services, to encourage medical workers wh

Politics March 18, 2024

Private practitioners nationwide are mulling whether to reduce night services and weekend openings in protest against the government’s medical reform policies. Kim Dong-seok, an obstetrician who heads the Korean Medical Practitioners Association, a group representing private physicians, said during a spring medical academic conference Sunday afternoon that private medical practices are considering taking action to support junior doctors and medical professors’ walkout by shortening t

Social Affairs March 18, 2024

South Korea’s healthcare system faces yet another challenge as medical professors announce they will submit their resignations autonomously starting March 25, ending their involvement in patient care and surgical procedures. The medical professors, often juggling dual roles as physicians in hospitals, have filled the void left by trainee doctors to mitigate disruptions in medical services following a month-long period of junior doctors’ walkout in protest of the government’s ex

Social Affairs March 17, 2024

Oh Myung-jin, 44, who has to care for two critically ill family members, blew a fuse after hearing the news of medical professors considering leaving their hospitals too, joining junior doctors in their protest against the government increasing the medical school student quota. “If professors also walk out, (patients) won’t be able to get the same treatment starting this month or even next week. (My daughter and father) including myself are living in constant fear,” she told Th

Social Affairs March 14, 2024

[코리아헤럴드=박준희기자] 세계의사협회 루자인 알코드마니(Lujain Al-Qodmani) 회장은 최근 본지와의 서면 인터뷰에서 한국 정부의 일방적인 의대 증원 결정이 특정 분야 의사 부족 현상과 지역의료를 살리는 해결책이 아니라며 오히려 정원 확대 정책은 미래 의사의 역량을 하락시킬 수 있다고 우려했다. 이어 알코드마니 회장은 “연간 60%가 넘는 증원 규모는 대한의사협회와 같은 이해당사자들의 협상을 거치지 않은 채 증원됐다”며 이는 한국 의료계에 "적신호"를 보내고 있다고 말했다. 또한, 의대 증원이 "명확한 근거 없이 일방적으로 결정됐다"고 진단했다. 한국 정부의 결정은 “의학 교육과 의료 서비스 제공을 간과했다”면서, 이는 예기치 않은 결과를 초래할 위험이 있다며 우려를 표명 했다. “(의대 증원만으로는) 소아청소년과, 외과 같은 필수의료 분야와 지역의료를 효과적으로 해결하기 어렵다&rd

한국어판 March 12, 2024

Further uncertainty is hovering over South Korea’s critical care system, as medical professors, who have been filling the vacuum left by junior doctors walking out, warned they too could walk out in protest against the government’s expansion plan. The Medical Professors Association of Korea -- a coalition of professors from 33 medical schools -- issued a statement Tuesday that the group would take collective action “if any damage is inflicted” on trainee doctors or medica

Social Affairs March 12, 2024

The South Korean government’s decision to add 2,000 new spots in medical school admissions is not a solution to alleviate the immediate needs of medically underserved or specialty areas, according to Dr. Lujain Al-Qodmani, the president of the World Medical Association. In an exclusive written interview with The Korea Herald, the WMA head said the government’s decision overlooked the complexities of medical education and health care delivery and risks unintended consequences. Al-Qodm

Social Affairs March 12, 2024

The South Korean government said Friday it would set up a reporting center within the Ministry of Health and Welfare dedicated to ensuring trainee doctors’ safe return to hospitals as their protest against the expansion plan entered its third week. The center aims to prevent the direct and indirect harm that junior doctors who wish to return to their positions may suffer, as an list of returning doctors was posted online recently. Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during Friday

Social Affairs March 8, 2024

Medical professors are quitting in droves in a show of protest against the Korean government’s planned hike in the medical school enrollment quota, as they join trainee doctors in taking collective action. The dean’s group at Kyungpook National University School of Medicine issued a statement late Thursday that they would resign collectively “to take full responsibility for the situation,” according to the Daegu Medical Association on Friday. “We’ve openly exp

Social Affairs March 8, 2024

The South Korean government announced Thursday that it would spend 188.2 billion won ($141 million) from the state health insurance fund for a month to address the medical care gap left by trainee doctors’ collective walkouts that started three weeks ago. The provision of the funds will start Monday, and the same amount will be spent in the following month if the medical crisis continues. Jun Byung-wang, a policy chief at the Health Ministry, said during Thursday’s briefing that the

Social Affairs March 7, 2024