Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Public anger grows over doctors' strike
A member of the Korean Intern and Resident Association wages a one-person strike against the government's medical reform scheme at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Aug. 30. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
Public anger has been growing over the drawn-out strike by doctors in protest of the government's medical reform plan, a survey showed Thursday.
According to a survey on 1,000 people on Sept. 1 and 2 conducted by polling agency Realmeter, 55.2 percent of the respondents said they “don't agree” and/or “don't agree at all” with the doctors' reasons for the strike, while 38.6 percent said they “agree.”
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission also announced the results of two surveys conducted on 72,375 people from Aug. 11 to 27, regarding the major issues of the strike ― the expansion of medical schools' student quotas and establishing provincial public medical schools.
In the first survey of 69,899 people, 56.5 percent agreed with the expansion of the medical school student quota, while 8,862 or 13 percent of respondents said they were opposed to it. Among the respondents, 9 percent were medical students, 8.5 percent were interns and resident doctors and 7.2 percent were doctors running their own clinics.
In the second survey conducted on 2,476 people, asking about “improving the public healthcare system,” 44.1 percent chose the regional imbalance of medical services as a problem the government should address. As a solution, 46.4 percent chose “establish local public medical schools,” and 37.8 percent said “expansion of medical school student quota.”
The survey showed that while young doctors such as interns and resident doctors as well as medical students strongly oppose the government's medical reform plan by even showing willingness to risk their careers, many people believe these policies are necessary.
The antipathy towards doctors who do not respond to voices that want them to return to work can be seen in the growing amount of social media content posted by the Korea Medical Association (KMA), reflecting an elitist attitude. In a cartoon the KMA initially distributed, they asked the public which doctors they would choose to receive treatment from: somebody who studied hard to enter medical school or somebody who entered medical school through referral programs. The cartoon was modified later as criticisms escalated.
Public sentiment has also deteriorated over the doctors' collective action. Park Kyung-hwan, 40, an office worker in Seoul, said the strike is nothing but a “turf war.”
“I really don't understand at all why those doctors continue the strike especially in this period when there are not enough medical workers due to the pandemic,” Park said. “All other industries are in free competition. It makes no sense not to hire more doctors. I mean, what for? Being a doctor is a sacred job made in heaven?”
Kim Jin-hyuk, 43, another office worker in Seoul, also said, “We must never tolerate irresponsible and selfish doctors who treat desperate patients as hostages.” He added, “The government should take action against such doctors who illegally strike, taking the right to receive medical treatment away from the public.”