Faculty councils of 33 medical schools filed for an injunction Tuesday against the planned hike in medical school enrollment quotas, along with an administrative lawsuit against the Health Ministry, reports said the same day, citing education and health authorities. This comes after 40 medical schools nationwide have collectively requested an increase in the annual student quota by 3,401 in a government survey. The professors say the schools made their decisions without heeding their opinions. M

Social Affairs March 6, 2024

South Korea’s 40 medical schools have collectively requested an increase in the annual student quota by 3,401 starting in 2025, defying doctors’ calls to resist the government’s plan to expand the quota by 2,000 a year. The figure, 1.7 times higher than the planned increase of 2,000 students, is expected to bolster the government’s quota expansion push, which has been encountering strong opposition from doctors, medical students and professors who walked out of hospitals

Social Affairs March 5, 2024

The South Korean government on Monday started taking legal steps against some 7,000 trainee doctors who refused to return to work by moving to suspend their licenses for at least three months. Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during Monday’s briefing that those who defy the government’s return-to-work orders would be notified of their license suspension on Tuesday. Health authorities have begun on-site investigations at 50 training hospitals to determine the exact number

Social Affairs March 4, 2024

Expressing frustration and anger at the South Korean government’s recent decision to increase the annual medical school quota by 2,000 starting in 2025, tens of thousands of doctors, interns, residents and medical students walked the picket line Sunday afternoon to urge a reversal of the planned hike. Chants of “Let’s fight together, let’s win together” reverberated through the crowd, reflecting determination even as the government has issued repeated warnings that

Social Affairs March 3, 2024

The recent mass walkout by junior doctors has led to unprecedented disruptions in South Korea’s otherwise well-regarded medical system. Both the government and doctors’ groups have refused to bend over plans to increase the number of places at medical schools. Both sides amped up their publicity efforts rather than actively seeking a compromise, as the government’s Thursday deadline for junior doctors to return to work loomed. The government has reiterated the need for medica

Social Affairs Feb. 29, 2024

Police said Wednesday they launched an investigation against five protesting doctors affiliated with the Korea Medical Association, the country’s largest doctors’ group, for charges of breaching medical law. Officials added that the case had been assigned to the public crime investigation division under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The announcement came a day after the health ministry filed complaints against the five, marking the first instance of legal action taken against

Social Affairs Feb. 28, 2024

As negative sentiment continues to build toward the medical sector after junior doctors walked out of hospitals and training programs in protest of the government’s decision to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota, medical students said they would engage in community service while taking time off from their studies. An emergency response committee at Yonsei University College of Medicine on Monday kicked off volunteering activities to provide free meals for the elderly, dist

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2024

Kim, a mother in her 30s, arrived at Seoul National University Hospital’s emergency room on 5 a.m., Friday, after her preschool son’s temperature surged at midnight and he was losing energy. But she was not able to meet a doctor until 3 p.m., after almost 12 hours waiting on a bench outside of the ER with her crying son. “(My son) wasn’t feeling well last night. His temperature went too high, his face got red and he was sweating for days, so ... (I had to come here),&rdqu

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

The South Korean government said it has elevated the health care crisis level to the highest position, as of Friday at 8 a.m., in response to the collective walkout of junior doctors as they show little signs of returning. The highest level of seriousness in the four-tier warning system had previously been issued during the COVID-19 pandemic over a spike in confirmed cases, but this is the first time the government has lifted the gauge to seriousness regarding health care. In an effort to minimi

Social Affairs Feb. 23, 2024

The major lobby group for doctors said Thursday that it would stage a massive rally in Seoul with all of its members from across the county on March 3 to protest the government’s move to significantly increase the number of seats at medical schools. The demonstration, initially set for March 10, was moved up at the doctors’ urging, according to the Korean Medical Association, the largest group of doctors here with some 140,000 members. As the two sides continue to lock horns over the

Social Affairs Feb. 22, 2024

The number of surgeries being performed at Seoul’s “Big Five” hospitals was reduced by 30 to 50 percent due to a staff shortage over junior doctors’ resignation en masse on Wednesday, putting patients’ health at risk amid escalating confrontation between doctors and the government. Severance Hospital reduced its operations by 50 percent, while Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital said they had canceled around 30 percent of

Social Affairs Feb. 21, 2024

Thousands of medical doctors, the essential force for the care and treatment of critical patients, left their hospitals Tuesday in protest of the government’s policy to expand the number of medical school students. South Korea’s medical landscape has been gripped with the fear of a major health care crisis, with doctors leaving their patients, claiming that the nation does not need more doctors because it has enough already and that the policy change will lower the quality of medical

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2024

Medical institutions were in a frantic dash Monday morning as junior doctors at Seoul’s “Big Five” hospitals moved to tender their resignation letters en masse Monday and walk out of their jobs on Tuesday at 6 a.m. in protest against the government’s planned hike in medical school enrollment quota. With a face full of worry, a woman in her 60s grabbed onto medical personnel at the main lobby of Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul, asking if she would be able

Social Affairs Feb. 19, 2024

The Korean government on Sunday issued a public plea urging doctors to abstain from joint action that could disrupt nationwide medical services. The statement comes as interns and residents prepare to stage a walkout this week in protest against the government’s decision to increase medical school enrollment quotas by over 60 percent. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo urged junior doctors to reconsider taking their gowns off, saying that citizens would have to bear the brunt of collective action

Social Affairs Feb. 18, 2024

Unleashing pent-up anger against the government’s decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058, hundreds of doctors from the Seoul Medical Association, along with medical students, interns and residents and their families, walked the picket line on Thursday to urge a reversal of the planned hike. The picket was part of massive protests staged by doctors’ groups nationwide beginning Tuesday, marking the first collective action by doctors gro

Social Affairs Feb. 16, 2024