Category: Korea-General Topics

The government should threaten to suspend their licenses for far longer than three months. How about a 5-10 years; that would probably get them back into the hospital:

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min speaks during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the government complex in Seoul on Feb. 26, 2024.

The government issued an ultimatum on Monday to trainee doctors who stopped work for a seventh day to protest against the government’s plan to boost medical students, warning that it could begin suspending the licenses of trainee doctors next month unless they return to work soon.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters that trainee doctors who refused to return to work by Thursday could start facing punishment the following day amid deepening concerns over public health as doctors and the government were on a collision course over the plan to raise the medical school admission quota by 2,000 seats next year.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The government should really revoke medical licenses from anyone participating in this strike that is adversely impacting so many patients:

To cope with a potential disruption of medical services, the government will extend operating hours at 97 public hospitals and emergency rooms at 12 military hospitals will be opened to the public, Park said.

“We are deeply disappointed and concerned that the collective action by trainee doctors has led to a disruption in medical services, such as the cancellation of surgeries,” Park said. 

“We cannot give justification to the actions of the doctors leaving their patients behind to protest a policy despite knowing what the collective action could result in,” Park added. 

“The government will put in utmost efforts to operate an emergency medical system to minimize possible damage to the patients.”

The government says the increase in the admission quota is needed to address a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as high-risk surgeries, pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine.

The number of doctors in South Korea relative to the size of the population is among the lowest in the developed world, according to health authorities.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The cover up is what caused these senior police officials to be convicted of a crime, not the incompetence that contributed to the Itaewon crowd crush disaster:

A South Korean court on Wednesday convicted three former police officers of destroying internal files and other evidence in an attempted cover-up after a Halloween crowd crush that killed nearly 160 people in the capital, Seoul, in 2022. They were the first convictions over the deaths. The high death toll was largely blamed on official failures in disaster planning and a botched emergency response. More than 20 government and police officials were indicted.

The Seoul Western District Court sentenced Park Seong-min, a former senior intelligence officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, to 18 months in prison on charges that he ordered subordinates to erase internal documents after the crush. Those included reports showing how police ignored warnings about possible crowd-related accidents in the nightlife district of Itaewon. Kim Jin-ho, a former intelligence officer at Seoul’s Yongsan district police station, received a suspended one-year sentence on similar charges. Kwang Yeong-seok, a lower-ranking officer at the Yongsan station, received a four-month deferred sentence after being found guilty of destroying files under Kim’s instruction.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what continues to amaze me about this Itaewon tragedy is that there is a police station right across the street from the Hamilton Hotel where the disaster happened. The police received warnings for hours of the dangerous crowds in the area and nothing was done by the police personnel in the station right across the street.

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.

It will be interesting to see if the opening of relations with Cuba will open increased trade with South Korea from the island nation:

South Korea established diplomatic relations with Cuba on Wednesday, its mission to the United Nations said, in a surprise announcement that could pose a setback to North Korea that has long boasted brotherly ties with the Latin American country.

In New York, the two countries’ representatives to the United Nations exchanged diplomatic notes marking the establishment of the formal ties. Cuba is the 193rd country which South Korea has built diplomatic relations with.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With the high cost of living being a digital nomad in South Korea may not be as appealing as in other more affordable countries. Additionally this visa is not open to freelancers which most digital nomads normally are:

About a month has passed since the highly-anticipated workcation visa for digital nomads was launched, but the visa is off to a slow start. 
  
Just seven people applied for the visa as of Jan. 31, according to the Ministry of Justice.  

The workcation visa, or the F-1-D, was introduced in a trial run on Jan. 1 for foreigners to work remotely in Korea over a longer period. Applicants must be employed at a company abroad, working remotely for their company. Applying for a job within Korea is strictly prohibited.  
  
The visa allows a one-year stay, which can be extended for another year for a total two-year stay. Without a visa, many foreigners can only stay in Korea for up to 90 days. 
  
One obstacle is that the visa isn’t currently open to freelancers, who make up a large portion of the digital nomad population.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

South Korea is already working on a “diplomatic buffer zone” with the early renegotiation of the USFK upkeep in case Trump does get elected:

With Donald Trump cruising to a rematch with United States President Joe Biden in the presidential election in November, the world, including South Korea, is preparing for a possible second Trump presidency, which is anticipated to force many countries to recalibrate their diplomatic strategies.

Throughout last year, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has concentrated on strengthening its alliance with the U.S. to an unprecedented level, aligning South Korea’s diplomatic stance with its traditional ally on most issues, including sensitive ones such as the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Experts said, however, that South Korea this year will have to focus on securing a “diplomatic buffer zone” to prepare for a possible second Trump presidency, which is expected to force Seoul to shoulder a greater amount of the cost of maintaining U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) presence on the peninsula and make greater efforts for containing China. The speculation that Trump may condone North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is also a concern for Seoul, which has been striving to stymie Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions through U.S. extended deterrence.

“In terms of the relations with the U.S., the top agenda item that South Korea should focus on this year would be creating a diplomatic buffer zone for requests that Washington may make under a possible second Trump presidency in 2025,” said Lee Geun, professor of international politics at Seoul National University’s (SNU) Graduate School of International Studies.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

You would think these fire evacuation spaces would not have doors that lock you in like this:

A man in Incheon was rescued after being trapped in a small space within his apartment flat for 20 hours. The successful rescue was attributed to the man’s resourcefulness and a neighbor’s response, according to police on Monday.

On the last day of 2023, the man in his 70s found himself locked inside the building’s evacuation area, which is a mandatory 6.6 square meter space in new apartment buildings designed for fire emergencies. Stranded without a phone in the cold for 20 hours, he resorted to desperate and resourceful measures.

He discovered a piece of cardboard and a knife and used the blade to inscribe “SOS” on the paper. He then suspended the message outside his window, hoping that someone would notice and alert the police.

His hopes were realized when a resident in a neighboring apartment building spotted the message and promptly called the police.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this man was lucky someone spotted his sign and called the police.