Doctors in South Korea face suspensions over strikes

Thousands of striking junior doctors in South Korea faced proceedings to suspend their medical licences Tuesday, while authorities pushed for police investigations into leaders of the walkouts that have disrupted hospital operations.

Nearly 9,000 of South Korea’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been refusing to work for the past two weeks to protest a government plan to enrol thousands more students in the country’s medical schools in coming years. The government ordered them to return to work by Feb. 29, citing a threat to public health, but most have defied the threats of licence suspensions and prosecutions.

Officials say South Korea must add more doctors to deal with a fast-aging population and plan to raise medical school enrolment by 2,000 from the current 3,058, starting next year. But many doctors say universities aren’t ready to deal with that abrupt increase in the number of students and that the country’s overall medical service would eventually be hurt.

On Monday, the Health Ministry sent officials to hospitals to confirm the absence of the striking doctors, in order to begin administrative steps to suspend their licences. On Tuesday, officials began sending notices to some strikers about licence suspension proceedings.

Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said licences would be suspended for at least three months. Doctors are to be given opportunities to respond before suspensions take effect.

“The trainee doctors have left their patients defenceless. They’ve even left emergency rooms and intensive care units,” Park said. “We can’t tolerate these irresponsible acts.”