Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has urged medical school professors not to walk off the job in solidarity with protesting junior doctors.
Police conducted another raid on the newly elected president of the Korea Medical Association, Lim Hyun-taek, on suspicion of inciting the walkout by junior doctors.
Even while patients are suffering from doctors’ walkout, both the government and medical circles are chanting the same mantra: “It is all for patients’ sake.”
A special presidential committee on medical reform was launched on Thursday as medical professors' resignations began taking effect. However, representatives from doctors' groups did not respond to the government's call to join the inaugural meeting.
Medical professors at major hospitals in Korea will begin resigning on Thursday as planned and take one day off weekly starting next week, arguing that they have been pushed to their limits from overwork with the junior doctors' strike.
The medical system could collapse if the golden time for reform is wasted.
Patients and students are increasingly embarrassed by the ongoing standoff between doctors and the government over the medical school admissions quota increase.
The government on Monday underscored its determination to carry out its medical reform, stating that “scrapping the current scheme or postponing medical schools' admissions hike for a year is out of perspective."
The government moved to break the deadlock with doctors on Friday by accepting national medical schools’ request to flexibly adjust their admission quota for next year, but the medical community is not welcoming the government’s offer.
Patients in critical condition or with severe illnesses are being hit the hardest by the ongoing clash between the government and the medical sector over the medical school quota expansion. Patients hold both sides responsible for the medical crisis.
Korea JoongAng Daily Sitemap