The suspension of the licenses of the striking doctors will begin next week

SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) — South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday it will begin suspending the medical licenses of trainee doctors who defied the plan starting next week. Its plan to increase the number of medical students.

The more than a month-long strike of trainee doctors, protesting against increased quotas in medical colleges, appears to have turned into an area of ​​little commitment from the government, given that it on Wednesday allocated 2,000 additional places for admission fees for medical colleges in universities across the country.

“Starting next week, the government will take measures to suspend licenses, under the principle of violating the return to work order,” Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters.

The ministry sent license suspension notices to about 5,000 trainee doctors, who must submit their opinions on the punitive measure before next Monday. After this period, the Ministry may send official notifications suspending the license.

Park added that they urged trainee doctors to return to their training hospitals, not only for the sake of the patients, but also for the sake of their colleagues – who are filling their vacancies – and for themselves who have chosen a career in medicine.

About 90% of the 13,000 interns and residents have remained unemployed since February 20, leading to the cancellation or postponement of surgeries and other public health services at major hospitals.

Park also warned that trainees who have not registered with the hospitals' training management system before the end of this month will not be able to become residents next year.

Furthermore, since trainee doctors must undergo additional training if they are away for more than a month, Park noted that suspending their licenses would have a negative impact on their career path.

The government is trying to significantly increase the number of medical students in preparation for a rapidly aging population and a shortage of doctors in rural areas and basic specialties such as pediatrics and emergency departments.

On the other hand, doctors say that increasing the number of medical students will undermine the quality of medical education and lead to higher medical costs for patients. They also called for measures to address the problem of underpaid specialists first and improve legal protection against excessive medical negligence claims.

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