Doctors walk at the lobby of Severance Hospital in Seoul on June 27, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has referred 18 doctors, medical students and others to the prosecution for a probe into their alleged involvement in drawing up or releasing a list of junior doctors who returned to hospitals following their walkout, the health ministry said Thursday.
Last week, a list of junior doctors who decided to end their monthslong strike and return to work was circulated online, and police conducted an investigation upon the request of the ministry.
More than 90 percent of around 13,000 junior doctors walked off their jobs in February in the form of resignations against the government’s plan to sharply raise medical school admissions.
“Police found 18 doctors, medical students and others who were suspected of being involved in the incident and sent them to the prosecution for investigation,” Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said during a meeting regarding the strike.
“The government has vowed stern responses to such cases of stigmatizing returning trainee doctors,” he added.
The government has presented a set of measures to convince them to return to work and resolve the medical impasse, including the withdrawal of its plan to suspend the licenses of striking doctors.
But a majority of them have remained off their jobs.
Cho voiced regret over the situation where most striking doctors are unlikely to return to hospitals, and vowed to further beef up the emergency system in an effort to minimize the medical service vacuum.
The walkout has disrupted the health care system, as most of the major hospitals have significantly reduced treatments, surgeries and other services for patients.
Despite strong opposition from doctors, the government has already finalized an admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools for next year in an effort to address problems stemming from the shortage of doctors.
Doctors have urged the government to revisit the decision, claiming that medical schools will not be able to handle the increased enrollment, which will compromise the quality of medical education and ultimately the country’s medical services.
(Yonhap)
