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Doctors' strike imminent amid gov't push for medical school quota hike
Doctors walk down a hallway of a large hospital in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Health ministry says no compromise, warns of tough response
Doctors are on a collision course with the government, as they are planning collective actions, including a large-scale strike, in protest of the health ministry's recent decision to let more students into medical schools.
As the government is strongly determined not to back off but push ahead with the long-delayed quota hike this time, concerns are rising that citizens could experience inconvenience in receiving adequate medical services.
Participants in the collective action are expected to include not only general physicians operating local clinics, but also interns and resident doctors working in large hospitals. Their actions would include shutting down clinics, taking annual leave or submitting resignation letters en masse.
The doctors’ threats came after the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Feb. 6 that the annual enrollment quota at 40 medical schools across the county will increase next year to 5,058 from the current 3,058, in order to improve public access to medical services in underserved areas and alleviate chronic shortages of physicians in critical fields such as pediatrics and emergency care. It will be the first hike in nearly 20 years, as the current limit was set in 2006.
The health ministry made it clear that the government will not repeat the compromise made in 2020, referring to the previous Moon Jae-in government’s eventual retraction of its proposal to raise the medical school admissions quota by 4,000 over 10 years. That plan faced fierce protests by physicians, interns and resident doctors as well as medical school students.
This time, the ministry threatened a stern response to doctors’ looming strike, including a measure that could revoke their licenses.
A poster opposing the government's decision to raise the enrollment quota of medical schools is posted on the door of the Korean Medical Association building in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
As its first collective action against the government’s decision, the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the nation’s largest coalition of doctors, will hold massive rallies across the nation on Thursday.
The KMA went into emergency mode after Lee Pil-soo resigned as its head following the government’s announcement. It said on Sunday that its emergency response committee will soon decide on the details for additional collective actions.
Doctors affiliated with the Korea Emergency Medical Association also announced a decision to form an emergency council and join collective actions to be led by the KMA.
As the KMA consists mostly of doctors who operate local clinics, its use of the expression “general strike” is largely interpreted as a shutdown of those clinics.
The ministry believes such an action would have a limited impact on health services when looking back on the 2020 case when the participation rate stood at only about 10 percent.
Major concerns are revolving around possible collective actions to be staged by interns and resident doctors who play a pivotal role in larger hospitals. A strike by junior doctors has a greater impact, as seen in 2020 when more than 80 percent of them participated in collective actions that defeated the Moon government’s push for the hike.
A day after the government announced the decision to raise the medical school quota by an extra 2,000, Park Dan, head of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), wrote on social media, “The number is far too excessive. We will consider all necessary measures (against the decision).”
The KIRA said its survey conducted on around 10,000 interns and resident doctors showed that 88.2 percent of the respondents agreed with taking collective action, including strikes, if the government proceeds with raising the medical school quota.
Interns and resident doctors at the so-called “big five” hospitals in Seoul — Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital — have already carried out their own surveys and agreed to participate in the collective action.
Ambulance workers transfer a patient to the emergency room of a large hospital in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
The health ministry stressed that it will respond firmly to any potential strikes by doctors in accordance with laws and principles.
Under the Medical Service Act, the government can issue an order for doctors to return to work if they go on strike. Violators of this order face suspension of their licenses for up to one year or imprisonment up to three years.
The law also stipulates that the government possesses the authority to potentially revoke doctors’ licenses should they receive criminal punishment after failing to adhere to this order.
“We have strong will to respond sternly to any illegal acts and have prepared for that,” a ministry official said.
A senior official at the presidential office also said doctors' planned collective action lacks justification, adding that previous administrations have missed the proper timing to raise the medical school quota and it cannot be delayed anymore.