SEOUL - The ongoing dispute between the South Korean government and the medical community is expected to escalate as medical school professors across the nation plan to submit mass resignations and scale back patient care starting this week. This development follows a month-long strike by trainee doctors in protest against a government decision to increase medical school enrollment quotas.
According to Yonhap News Agency, over 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have already participated in mass resignations to protest the planned increase in medical school seats. The government, in response, intends to suspend the licenses of striking trainee doctors starting next week.
Starting Monday, medical professors from across South Korea will join the protest by submitting their resignations and reducing their work hours to focus primarily on emergency care and seriously ill patients. The national medical school professors' council stated that the move aims to ensure safe treatment for inpatients and urgent cases despite the ongoing dispute.
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong has expressed grave concerns over the impending collective resignations and has called on the medical faculty to maintain their commitment to patient care. The government has outlined plans to bolster the emergency medical response system and urged medical professors to engage in discussions on medical reform.
The government maintains that the increase in the medical student quota is non-negotiable and asserts that legal actions will follow for non-compliance. The suspension of medical licenses for some striking doctors is set to commence on Tuesday.
Efforts to mediate the conflict were made on Sunday when Han Dong-hoon, chief of the ruling People Power Party, met with representatives from the Medical Professors Association of Korea. Following the meeting, President Yoon Suk Yeol requested a more flexible approach regarding the suspension of striking doctors' licenses and called for the formation of a consultative body to facilitate dialogue.
The ongoing strike has significantly disrupted medical services, prompting an association of critically ill patients to demand immediate solutions. The government has proposed deploying additional military and public health doctors to affected hospitals and recruiting retired senior doctors to mitigate the impact.
The core issue remains the proposed expansion of medical school admissions, aimed at addressing doctor shortages in rural areas and specific medical fields. However, doctors argue that the increase could degrade the quality of medical education and services, urging the government to provide better protection and incentives for those working in less popular medical disciplines.