Doctor Trainees Vow to Go on Strike Due to ROK Government Plan to Increase the Number of Medical Students

This is pretty ridiculous that these doctor trainees are vowing to go on strike because of the government’s increase in medical students in order to address a shortage of doctors:

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (R) speaks at an emergency meeting with ministers at the government complex in central Seoul on Feb. 19, 2024. (Yonhap)

Trainee doctors began submitting their letters of collective resignation Monday in protest against the government’s plan to boost the number of medical students, while the health ministry ordered all of them to keep providing medical treatment. 

Worries mounted as doctors warn of a large-scale strike and other responses in opposition to the government’s decision to add 2,000 to the country’s medical school enrollment quota next year, marking a sharp rise from the current 3,058 seats.

Although the government had initially played down the possibility of doctors’ collective action, it is feared the nation will suffer substantial disruptions to its medical service, with some patients already experiencing delays in surgeries and other treatments in hospitals.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK government is ordering the trainees to continue to provide medical services. If they do walkout it will be interesting to see if the government revokes their medical licenses thus ending their careers in medicine.