Doctors to go on nationwide strike Friday

A woman enters a dermatology clinic in Seoul, Thursday, while an attached notice reads that the clinic will be closed for four days starting today. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, doctors at 21.3 percent of the country's hospitals, including local clinics, declared they would join a nationwide strike scheduled for today. / Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

Thousands of doctors are expected to hold a nationwide walkout Friday, in protest of the government's plan to increase medical student quotas, according to the Korean Medical Association (KMA), Thursday.

The exact number of doctors planning to participate in the strike is unknown, but according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 7,039 out of 30,331 hospitals, accounting for 21.3 percent of the medical institutions in the country, have declared their intent to join the walkout as of Wednesday.

The KMA, which has 130,000 members, said essential departments such as emergency rooms and intensive care units will not be closed.

The government will notify the public regarding the hospitals that will be open during the strike through the Ministry of Health and Welfare website. Also, 24-hour medical services will be operating in local community health centers in case of emergency.

The planned walkout is the medical community's protest against the government's announcement to increase the medical student quota and other revision plans in the medical industry.

On July 23, the government announced its medical workforce reform plan to fix the shortage of doctors and enhance public healthcare services.

The government plans to train 4,000 more doctors over the next 10 years by increasing the medical student quota by 400 per year. Three quarters of the additional trainees will be dispatched to rural hospitals for at least ten years. The plan also includes the establishment of a state-funded medical school in North Jeolla Province.

However, the plans met with a heavy backlash from the medical community, criticizing it as “hasty and unilateral.” The KMA stated that expanding the number of trainees will only lead to higher competition among doctors and will not resolve the regional disparity in medical care.

The association has been urging the government to withdraw the plan, with plans to hold the walkout if the government does not take appropriate measures by noon, Aug. 12.

The government warned it would take stern measures if the strike threatens public health.

“Under no circumstances should public safety, especially the safety of patients, be threatened due to the strike. If any related cases are reported, the government will take strict measures based on legal principles,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said in a statement on Thursday.