Protests On The Addition Of Medical Student Quota, Doctors In South Korea Strike

The medics walked at a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on March 15, 2000. (Between/Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua/tm)

JAKARTA - South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Sunday asked doctors to refrain amid their widespread strike to protest the government's decision to increase the number of medical school registration seats.

Doctors have warned that they will carry out massive strikes and various other measures.

The move they took in opposition to the government's decision, announced earlier this month, to add 2,000 new student quotas to medical school next year.

This additional amount marks a sharp increase in the quota of medical students, from the current 3,058 seats.

"If the doctors really take action that results in a vacancy of health services, the harm will be on the community," Han said in a statement reported by Antara.

"The vacancy of health services due to these collective actions is something that should not happen, because it can endanger people's lives and health," Han added.

Han emphasized that the government's efforts to reform the medical sector could only be successful if the country had more doctors.

The prime minister's statement came after an intern from five major public hospitals in Seoul said they would submit a letter of resignation on Monday (19/2).

They also decided to leave work the following day.

"Given the time it takes to educate specialist doctors, we can no longer delay this increase. Not only patients are aging, but also doctors," said Han.

He also emphasized that the quota has never been raised in the last 27 years.

Han reiterated that the government will continue to provide incentives for doctors, including building'safety nets' to ease their criminal liability in the event of malpractice.

South Korea also previously pledged to allocate 10 trillion won (Rp115 trillion) in 2028 to increase compensation for medical services in critical areas, and to attract more doctors to practices in sectors at higher risk.

In a separate statement, South Korean Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said the government was open to holding talks with doctors, and urged them not to take collective strike action.

"It is regrettable that the Korean Medical Organization is taking protest steps," Cho said. "We urge medical staff to support patients, and the government will continue to open the door for dialogue," he said, adding.

Meanwhile, officials said, the government had issued an order to hospitals to submit the doctor's daily work records, and promised to take firm action if doctors went on strike.

(The order) was issued to prevent an incident where doctors, after receiving orders to return to work from the government, then went back to the hospital to participate in collective action, said a health ministry official.

As of Friday (16/2), the Ministry of Health reported that 715 interns from 23 hospitals had submitted resignation letters, although so far no request has been granted.