South Korea initiates legal measures against doctors still on strike
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Seoul's second vice health minister revealed that all hospitals in South Korea will undergo an investigation today to check which doctors have returned to their posts.
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South Korean Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo speaks during a press conference after a meeting with trainee doctors at the National Health Insurance Service in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, February 29, 2024. (AP)
South Korea stated today that it will initiate the license termination process for trainee doctors who are still refusing to come back to work in protest over medical training reforms.
Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo announced at a press conference that even though the government has continuously appealed, the number returning to work "has been minimal."
"Starting today the government is enforcing legal measures," he stated.
All hospitals in South Korea will undergo an investigation today to check who has returned, Min-soo revealed, adding that if the "absence is confirmed," the government will inform the latter that the license termination process has been initiated.
"If they violate the government's back-to-work order, a three-month-suspension is inevitable," he stressed.
Trainees want reforms, government wants easy solutions
As protests over medical reforms began their second week on February 26, authorities warned trainee doctors that day to come back to work, at the risk of prosecution if they did not return to hospitals on February 29 at the most.
Official figures revealed that more than 10,000 junior doctors, making up 80.5 percent of the trainee workforce, have quit as part of an escaltion against government plans to sharply increase medical school admissions to counter deficiency in the field and a fastly aging society.
The shortage in staff has led to cancellations and postponements of surgeries for cancer patients and C-sections for pregnant women, with the government elevating its public health alert to the highest level over the fallout.
Doctors in South Korea are labeled as vital workers who are prohibited by law from striking, which prompted the government to claim many times that this mass resignation is unlawful.
Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo announced in a press briefing, "Please return to your workplaces by the end of this month, February 29," adding, "If you return to the hospital you left by this date, you will not be held responsible for the past."
He further warned that those who will continue to protest, will have their medical licenses revoked for at least three months, and the revoke will be permanently registered on their record, in turn risking their careers including employment abroad.
