A medical worker takes off his lab coat at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul on June 17, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Some community doctors were set to stage a one-day walkout Tuesday in protest of the government’s medical reform, amid growing anxiety among patients as medical professors of Seoul National University hospitals began an indefinite walkout.
About 4 percent of the nation’s 36,371 community hospitals, excluding dental and Oriental medicine clinics, have reported to the health ministry that they will take a day off.
The planned walkout by community doctors came a day after about 55 percent of medical professors at four major hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University started walking off their jobs, demanding the government readjust a hike in medical admission quotas and fully withdrawing punitive steps against trainee doctors.
Medical professors at other major hospitals, including Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, have also vowed to join the walkout.
Late last month, the government finalized an admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools, marking the first such increase in 27 years.
The government has pledged to take stern actions against collective actions by doctors.
The health ministry reported the Korea Medical Association (KMA), the biggest lobby group of community doctors, to the Fair Trade Commission for an investigation as it allegedly incited community doctors to take part in the collective action in violation of the fair trade law.
Under the law, business associations are banned from unfairly interrupting the business activities of their members or restricting competition.
The ministry has also issued an order prohibiting 17 senior members of the KMA, including its leader Lim Hyun-taek, from engaging in or inciting collective action.
(Yonhap)
