South Korea senior doctors quit, escalating crisis as officials threaten to revoke trainee licences

Junior doctors say they have no intention of returning to work even as officials launch steps to suspend their licences, while senior staff are also resigning

The government’s crackdown on doctors protesting against the plan to raise the number of medical school places is akin to a ‘witch-hunt’, the Korean Medical Association says

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Doctors protest against the government’s medical policy in Seoul on March 3. Photo: AP

Published: 3:18pm, 5 Mar 2024Updated: 11:48am, 6 Mar 2024

South Korea’s healthcare services risk being thrown into further turmoil as a nationwide doctors’ strike worsens, with senior staff resigning and trainees continuing to give up internships in protest against a government plan to almost double the number of medical school admissions.

Junior doctors on Tuesday said they had no intention of returning to work even as officials launched steps to suspend their licences, warning that demonstrators would face serious problems in their future careers.

Yun Woo-sung of the Kyungpook National University School of Medicine on Monday became the first professor to resign over the issue, and others have said they would “not sit idle” if junior doctors were “hurt”, as neither side shows signs of backing down in the gridlock that has dragged on for weeks.

“This measure is irreversible,” Second Vice-Health Minister Park Min-soo told journalists, as government officials on Tuesday visited 50 hospitals around the country to conduct checks on the attendance rates of trainee doctors.

Second Vice-Health Minister Park Min-soo on March 4 reiterates the government’s plan to take punitive measures against striking doctors. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

The Korean Medical Association (KMA), which represents private practitioners, on Monday urged the government to rethink its reforms and accused authorities of a “witch-hunt” against doctors.

Some 9,000 residents and intern doctors – about 70 per cent of the country’s trainee doctors – have resigned since February 20 over a government proposal to increase the number of students admitted to medical schools from 3,000 to 5,000 from next year, to plug doctor shortages in the rapidly ageing country.