Government halts license suspension for junior doctors as 'tentative deferral'

Medical professionals walk inside a corridor at a general hospital in downtown Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

The government will shelve the execution of license suspensions against junior doctors, which was slated to be effective starting Tuesday.

According to a report from Yonhap News on Monday, a presidential official said the delay in enacting the penalty is a “tentative deferral,” considering the current status of “pursuing talks to decide lenient solutions.” The official added it would not be “an indefinite postponement [of the punishment].”

Junior doctors who received warnings or prior notices of license suspensions were expected to see their licenses suspended as early as Tuesday if they failed to administer their statements.

Based on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s order to devise flexible measures for junior doctors staging a walkout, the government’s recent behavior shows its willingness to enter into dialogue with the medical sector.

With the Prime Minister's Secretariat’s Office for Government Policy Coordination at the center, the government is speeding up its efforts to resume talks with medical professionals.

Yoon accommodated the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon’s advice on Sunday, calling for a “flexible measure." He instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to "form a consultative body with medical professionals to pursue dialogue."

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]