Military hospital emergency rooms to open to public in case of doctors' collective action
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, left, and Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon wait for a meeting with relevant ministers about doctors' strike in Seoul, Feb. 19. Yonhap
The military plans to open its hospital emergency rooms to the public if doctors stage a massive walkout against the government's plan to increase medical school admissions, the defense ministry said Monday.
Thousands of trainee doctors were set to submit their resignations en masse later in the day in protest of the plan, raising concerns it would cripple hospital operations and patient care.
"If the civilian medical sector presses ahead with a strike ... our military will open the emergency rooms of 12 military hospitals, including the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, and provide support in emergency patient care," Jeon Ha-kyou, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular briefing.
The envisioned collective action is part of a protest against the government's decision to add 2,000 slots to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, a significant increase from the current 3,058 seats.
Doctors and medical students have voiced opposition to the government's plan, contending that there are already sufficient physicians and that simply increasing the quota of medical students would lead to unnecessary medical care.
The government argues that the country should begin training more new doctors to address the challenges posed by a rapidly aging society, citing examples of other major developed countries facing shortages of physicians. (Yonhap)