South Korean officials yesterday issued return-to-work orders for doctors participating in a one-day walkout as part of a protracted strike against government plans to boost medical school admissions, starting next year.
Since February, more than 12,000 trainee doctors have remained on strike amid a deepening standoff with government officials, who want to grow the nation’s number of doctors by up to 10,000 by 2035. Many reject the plan, saying schools would not be able to handle the increased flow and that the quality of the nation’s medical services would suffer.
About 4 percent of the nation’s 36,000 private medical facilities, categorized as clinics, had told authorities they would participate in the one-day strike yesterday, the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
Photo: Reuters
The strike came a day after hundreds of medical school professors at four major hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) started an indefinite walkout, raising concerns about disruptions in medical services.
South Korean Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Jun Byung-wang said the one-day strike by clinics and the walkout by SNU-affiliated medical professors had not immediately caused significant problems in medical services.
He accused the protracted strike of threatening to destroy a “trusting relationship between doctors and patients our society has built.”
“We cannot allow unlimited freedom to the medical profession,” Jun said. “Since they benefit from a medical licensing system that limits the supply [of doctors] and ensures their monopoly of the profession, doctors must uphold their end of professional and ethical responsibilities and legal obligations under the medical law.”
Under South Korean law, doctors defying return-to-work orders can face suspensions of their licenses or other punishment.
Jun said the ministry plans to request that hospitals to pursue damage suits against the striking medical professors if their walkouts prolong and disrupt medical services. He said hospitals that fail to sufficiently respond to the walkouts could face disadvantages in health insurance compensation and that the government plans to push legal action against any hospital that cancels reserved treatments with patients without notifying them in advance.
In a Cabinet meeting yesterday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the months-long strike “regrettable” and warned that his government would sternly respond to “illegal activities that abandon patients.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS