More than 8,800 trainee doctors - 71 percent of the workforce - are now on strike, South Korea's second vice health minister Park Min-soo said on February 21, amid increasingly fierce protests against the government's increase in enrollment quotas for medical schools.
Seoul says the change is necessary because the number of doctors in South Korea is low and the population is rapidly aging. However, doctors say it will affect the provision of medical services at hospitals as well as the quality of training at medical schools.
South Korean trainee doctors strike over new government plan
Opponents of the protest movement say doctors are largely concerned that increasing the number of doctors could undermine their salaries and social status. The government's policy has received widespread support from the South Korean public, especially those in remote areas where access to quality medical services is often difficult.
According to Vice Minister Park, 7,813 trainee doctors did not show up for work on February 21 – nearly five times the number on February 19, the first day of the strike – despite the government ordering many of them to return to hospitals.
In front of Seoul National University Hospital on February 21.
"The fundamental mission of medical professionals is to protect the health and lives of the people, and any collective action that threatens this cannot be justified," AFP quoted Mr Park as saying. The official also said the doctors' strike violated South Korean law, as medical staff cannot refuse orders to return to work "without justifiable reasons".
Park said South Korea’s general hospitals rely heavily on trainee doctors for emergency and surgical care. According to local media, cancer patients and women needing caesarean sections have been unable to undergo surgery because of the strike, in many cases causing “damage.”
Hong Jae-ryun, a brain cancer patient in his 50s from Daegu, said his chemotherapy has been postponed without a clear future date due to the current situation, even though the cancer has spread to his lungs and liver.
"It's absurd. In a conflict between the government and doctors, what can helpless patients say? It feels like betrayal," AFP quoted Mr. Hong as saying.
A group of patients with serious illnesses, including cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), say they are suffering “horrible days of pain”.
"We are desperate every minute, every second. Serious patients need immediate treatment... We earnestly request that trainee doctors who have left the hospital return to the medical field as soon as possible," they said in a statement sent to AFP.
On February 21, a group of doctors practicing in Kyunggi Province held a protest in central Seoul. They wore red headbands with the words "(We) strongly oppose the expansion of medical school admissions."
Young doctors say new reforms in medical staff training are the last straw in a profession where they are already struggling with harsh working conditions.
"Despite working more than 80 hours a week and receiving minimum wage, trainee doctors have been abandoned by the government so far," the Korean Association of Intern Physicians and Residents said in a statement.
They also said that the over-reliance on trainee doctors in the current health care system in Korea is unreasonable and unfair, and that the government is treating them as if they are "criminals."
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