Medical workers walk at Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwangju, 267 kilometers south of Seoul, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – A major business lobby of doctors was set to hold meetings Wednesday to discuss its actions against the government’s planned hike in the enrollment quota for medical schools, officials said.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA) will hold the meetings later in the day, a day after the government announced its plan to increase the number of medical students by 2,000 next year, marking the first increase since 1998.
The KMA has already warned that it would launch a nationwide strike if the government pushes ahead with the hike, while the government vowed to take stern measures against any walkouts by doctors.
However, the KMA is expected to unveil details of its actions after the four-day Lunar New Year holiday that ends next Monday, observers said.
South Korea has been grappling with a shortage of doctors in rural areas as doctors tend to prefer to work in Seoul and its neighboring regions.
Doctors have claimed that establishing public hospitals and offering better salaries would be more effective in encouraging doctors to work in rural areas and the essential health care field.
In a separate statement, Park Dan, the head of the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), said trainee doctors would review “all necessary measures” against the government’s plan.
Earlier this week, KIRA said its poll of around 10,000 doctors showed that 88.2 percent of the respondents will carry out collective action, including strikes, should the government proceed with raising the medical school quota.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare, meanwhile, said it has convened a meeting with regional officials to brace for a potential strike by doctors and establish contingency plans.
(Yonhap)
