South Korea initiates process to suspend licenses of 4,900 striking doctors

• The walkout began on February 20 and aimed to increase the number of doctors to address shortages.
• The Health Ministry issued administrative notifications to thousands of trainee doctors.
• Military doctors will commence working in civilian hospitals starting from Wednesday this week.

On Monday, South Korea announced that it had initiated procedures to suspend the medical licenses of 4,900 junior doctors who resigned and ceased working to protest government medical training reforms, resulting in healthcare chaos. The walkout, which began on February 20, revolves around government plans to significantly increase the number of doctors. The government asserts that this increase is crucial to address shortages and South Korea’s rapidly aging population, while the medics contend that it will deteriorate service quality.

At the last count, nearly 12,000 junior doctors, constituting 93 percent of the trainee workforce, were absent from their hospitals, despite government orders to return to work and threats of legal action. This compelled Seoul to deploy military medics and allocate millions of dollars from state reserves to assist.

On Monday, the Health Ministry announced that it had issued administrative notifications — the initial step towards suspending the medical licenses of the doctors — to thousands of trainee doctors who defied specific orders to return to their hospitals.

“As of March 8 (notifications) have been sent to more than 4,900 trainee doctors,” Chun Byung-wang, director of the health and medical policy division at the health ministry, told reporters.

The government had previously cautioned striking doctors that they would face a three-month suspension of their licenses, a penalty that, according to the government, would postpone their ability to qualify as specialists by at least a year.

Chun urged the striking medics to return to their patients.

“The government will take into account the circumstance and protect trainee doctors if they return to work before the administrative measure is complete,” he said, indicating doctors who come back to work now could avoid the punishment.

“The government will not give up dialogue. The door for dialogue is always open … The government will respect and listen to the opinions of the medical community as a companion for the medical reforms,” he added.

Last week, the government unveiled new measures aimed at enhancing pay and conditions for trainee medics, along with initiating a review of the continuous 36-hour work period, which junior doctors strongly criticize.

The strikes have resulted in the cancellation of surgeries, extended wait times, and postponed treatments at major hospitals.

Seoul has activated military doctors and allocated millions of dollars from state reserves to alleviate service deficiencies but has refuted claims of a full-blown healthcare crisis.

Chun announced that military doctors would commence working in civilian hospitals starting from Wednesday this week.

Under South Korean law, doctors face restrictions on striking, and the health ministry has requested police to investigate individuals linked to the work stoppage.

The government aims to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students annually from next year to tackle what it deems one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios among developed nations.

Doctors express concerns that the reform will degrade the quality of service and medical education, but proponents accuse medics of attempting to protect their salaries and social status.

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