South Korea yesterday said it would allow foreign doctors to work in its hospitals after a rigorous vetting process, as a months-long doctors’ strike shows no sign of resolution.
Thousands stopped working on Feb. 20 to protest government plans to train more doctors, causing chaos in hospitals.
The government, which has already offered some concessions in a bid to end the standoff, this week said that doctors with foreign medical licenses would be allowed to practice in the country, in a bid to ease service disruptions.
After the move was announced, Korean Medical Association head Lim Hyun-taek shared a screenshot of a news report on newly graduated Somali doctors with the comment: “Coming Soon.”
The post, which was later removed, prompted widespread online criticism, and was highly inappropriate and “clearly racist,” said Kim Jae-heon, secretary-general of a non-governmental organization advocating free medical care.
The post “exploited Islamophobia and stereotyping against developing countries,” he said.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the government would make sure to “have a thorough safety system to prevent unqualified doctors [with foreign licenses] from treating our people.”
The government is locked in a protracted standoff with the junior doctors, who have refused to return to their hospitals, despite the health ministry offering last month to scale back proposed medical training reforms for next year.
The striking doctors have rejected the offer, demanding instead that the plan to create more doctors be scrapped entirely.
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