The administration of South Korea has initiated measures on Monday to halt the medical certifications of numerous resident doctors who have been striking. This comes after they failed to meet a deadline set by the government to terminate their joint protests, which have significantly disrupted the functioning of hospitals.

For the past two weeks, around 9,000 medical interns and residents have been engaged in a strike to oppose the government’s plan to significantly raise the number of medical school admissions. As a result of their protest, numerous surgeries and treatments have been postponed and the country’s healthcare system is at risk of being overwhelmed.

On Monday, representatives were dispatched to multiple hospitals to officially verify the absence of the protesting physicians as the government initiated measures to temporarily revoke their licenses for a minimum of three months, according to Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo during a press conference.

Park stated that the striking doctors will receive notification from authorities regarding their anticipated suspensions of licenses, and will be afforded the opportunity to provide a response. He implied that the suspensions of licenses would not take effect for several weeks.

Park stated that, even after many pleas from the government and other groups, the amount of trainee doctors returning to their jobs remains small. Today, we will begin enforcing the law through on-site inspections.

Once more, Park emphasized the government’s plea for doctors to halt their walkouts.

He stated that we strongly encourage them to prioritize the needs of patients who are fighting for their lives and their families instead of disregarding their suffering.

The South Korean government has mandated that the doctors on strike must resume work by February 29th. This is allowed under the country’s medical law in cases where the government deems there to be a serious threat to public health. Failure to comply with this order can result in a suspension of the doctor’s license for up to a year, as well as a prison sentence of three years or a fine of approximately $22,500.

The South Korean government recently declared that it will increase the maximum number of students admitted to medical schools by 2,000, beginning next year. This number will be raised from the current limit of 3,058.

According to officials, there is a pressing need for an increase in the number of doctors in order to address the aging population and alleviate the shortage of physicians in rural areas. This is particularly important for essential but underpaid specialties such as pediatrics and emergency medicine.

Public officials report that the ratio of doctors to population in South Korea is significantly lower compared to other developed nations.

However, a number of medical professionals have objected to this proposal, contending that universities are not equipped to provide high-quality education to a sudden surge in enrollment. They also warn that adding a large number of new doctors could result in a rise in public healthcare costs due to increased competition leading to unnecessary treatments. Furthermore, these critics predict that the newly admitted students would be drawn to lucrative and popular specialties like plastic surgery and dermatology.

According to critics, numerous physicians are against the government’s proposal due to concerns that increasing the number of doctors would lead to a decrease in income.

The protesting junior doctors make up a small portion of the nationwide group of 140,000 doctors. However, they make up 30-40% of the doctors at certain prominent hospitals, where they provide support to senior doctors while also receiving training.

Experienced physicians have organized multiple public demonstrations in support of the junior doctors, but have not participated in their strikes. Law enforcement has launched an investigation into five top members of the Korea Medical Association, an organization that represents doctors in South Korea, for purportedly encouraging and assisting the walkouts.