South Korea: Thousands of doctors resign in protest, medical services disrupted. Know why

Seoul: Thousands of trainee doctors in South Korea have resigned or staged a walkout from their jobs on Tuesday to protest against a government plan to admit more students to medical schools, triggering cancellations of surgeries and other medical treatments at hospitals.

The Health Ministry urged them to return to work immediately, saying they must not endanger the lives of patients to fight the government.

As of Monday, more than 6,000 of the 13,000 doctors and interns at large hospitals handed in en masse resignations and some 1,630 of them had left by 11 pm (local time) on Monday. More trainee doctors are expected to follow suit. Under a decision made by their association last week, trainee doctors at the country’s five major hospitals were supposed to walk off collectively on Tuesday.

The industrial action came despite a government order for the doctors to stay at work, and major hospitals said they were altering surgery schedules and patient appointments. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ordered emergency measures such as the use of telemedicine, more operations at public hospitals and the opening up of military clinics.

Why are doctors in South Korea protesting?

The dispute started when the Yoon Suk Yeol-led government announced that it would raise medical school admissions by 2,000 from next year. The government says it’s urgent to have more doctors to address what it calls a shortage of doctors, given the country’s fast-aging population. South Korea’s population of 52 million had 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people in 2022, far below the average of 3.7 for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).