Korean Doctors Walk Out of Hospitals After Government Proposal

Doctors protesting near President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office in Seoul (Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA, via Shutterstock)

South Korea’s medical system, world-renowned for its affordability and excellence, finds itself facing an existential crisis. Patients are seeing their pre-planned operations canceled and emergency cases are experiencing long waits for an ambulance, with one elderly woman dying of cardiac arrest after no hospital had space to treat her (Park). 

The medical emergency is the result of Korean doctors protesting at a government proposition to increase the number of students who can be admitted to its medical schools from 3,000 to 5,000 starting next year (Jin). The government argues that the move is necessary as the country has just 2.6 doctors for every 1,000 citizens compared to an OECD average of 3.7 (Park and Kim).

Doctors, particularly trainee doctors, argue that the government’s decision is misdirected since the shortage is limited to a minority of medical sectors. Claiming to already suffer from low salaries and harsh working conditions, the trainee doctors believe increased supply will make their situation even worse. Interns are resident doctors who are said to work up to 80 hours a week for just $3,000 a month (Jin).

When online and street protests failed to sway both public and government opinion, trainee doctors – who make up about 50% of the workforce at major hospitals – decided to submit their resignation letters. At first, 6,415 doctors walked off the job, and while several hundred have since returned, there is still a significant shortage which has caused the government to announce a medical emergency (Korea Joongang Daily). 

Meanwhile, the government is refusing to back down with the Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, saying that “it is impossible to justify collective action that takes people’s health hostage and threatens their lives and safety.” (Jin) The government added that those who failed to return to their posts by the end of February would lose their medical licenses and face large fines. That deadline has come and gone with no offer of a resolution from either side, and the government is yet to take definitive action. 

With public support aligning with the government, it is unlikely that the government will bow to the doctors’ demands; however, the doctors are also defiant in their position. This means the situation is likely to drag on which leaves the medical system vulnerable and the public at risk.