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Thousands of senior doctors rallied in the South Korean capital to express support for junior doctors who have been on strike for nearly two weeks over government plans to significantly increase medical school enrollment.
SEOUL, South Korea — Thousands of senior doctors rallied in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday to express support for junior doctors who have been on strike for nearly two weeks over government plans to significantly increase medical school enrollment.
The rally came as the government said it would begin taking steps on Monday to revoke the medical licenses of nearly 9,000 interns and residents for violating a government order to end a strike that has disrupted hospital operations.
“The government’s ridiculous medical policies have triggered huge resistance from intern doctors and medical students, and we doctors have become one of them,” Park Sung-min, a senior member of the Korean Medical Association, said in a speech at the rally. “I beg the government: Please stop the threats and repression immediately.”
Protesters chanted slogans, sang songs and carried placards criticizing the government’s plans. There have been no reports of violence.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of Thursday evening, 8,945 of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents were confirmed to have left the workplace. The government has said if they do not return by February 29, they face at least three months of license suspension and prosecution by prosecutors.
The doctors on strike are only a small part of South Korea’s 140,000 doctors. But in some large hospitals, they account for 30-40% of the total number of doctors. They assist senior doctors in surgery and other treatments while training. Their strike subsequently led to the cancellation of numerous surgeries and medical treatments in hospitals.
Senior doctors held a series of rallies in support of younger doctors but did not join the strike. Observers say if they also go on strike, it will deal a major blow to South Korea’s medical services. South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo on Sunday urged senior doctors to persuade striking junior doctors to return to work.
Police said they were investigating five senior officials of the Korean Medical Association accused of inciting and abetting junior doctors to strike. Seoul Police Chief Cho Ji-ho told reporters on Sunday that police raided the KMA office as part of the investigation.
The government hopes to increase admissions to Korean medical schools by 2,000 students from the current 3,058 starting next year to better cope with the country’s rapidly aging population. Officials say South Korea has one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios among developed countries.
But many doctors strongly protested the plan, saying medical schools could not cope with such a dramatic increase in student numbers. They say the hiring plan also fails to address chronic shortages of doctors in important but low-wage specialties such as pediatrics and emergency care. Doctors say adding too many new doctors would also increase public health costs because greater competition would lead to overtreatment.
Without a concrete plan on how to educate new students, “the quality of medical education will continue to decline, leading to unsafe, low-quality medical services and ultimately the collapse of South Korea’s medical services,” said Lee Jeong, acting president of the Korean Medical Association Root said at the rally.
The doctors’ protests have failed to win public support, with a survey showing a majority of South Koreans support the government plan. Some critics say doctors – one of South Korea’s highest-paid professions – are simply worried about falling incomes as the number of doctors grows.
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