Articles by Park Jun-hee
Park Jun-hee
junheee@heraldcorp.com-
Medical professors quit in droves over expansion plan
Medical professors are quitting in droves in a show of protest against the Korean government’s planned hike in the medical school enrollment quota, as they join trainee doctors in taking collective action. The dean’s group at Kyungpook National University School of Medicine issued a statement late Thursday that they would resign collectively “to take full responsibility for the situation,” according to the Daegu Medical Association on Friday. “We’ve openly exp
Social Affairs March 8, 2024
-
S. Korea to inject W188b to fill in medical void amid doctors’ protest
The South Korean government announced Thursday that it would spend 188.2 billion won ($141 million) from the state health insurance fund for a month to address the medical care gap left by trainee doctors’ collective walkouts that started three weeks ago. The provision of the funds will start Monday, and the same amount will be spent in the following month if the medical crisis continues. Jun Byung-wang, a policy chief at the Health Ministry, said during Thursday’s briefing that the
Social Affairs March 7, 2024
-
Professors sue health ministry over med school expansion plan
Faculty councils of 33 medical schools filed for an injunction Tuesday against the planned hike in medical school enrollment quotas, along with an administrative lawsuit against the Health Ministry, reports said the same day, citing education and health authorities. This comes after 40 medical schools nationwide have collectively requested an increase in the annual student quota by 3,401 in a government survey. The professors say the schools made their decisions without heeding their opinions. M
Social Affairs March 6, 2024
-
Med schools demand over 3,400 new student seats despite protests
South Korea’s 40 medical schools have collectively requested an increase in the annual student quota by 3,401 starting in 2025, defying doctors’ calls to resist the government’s plan to expand the quota by 2,000 a year. The figure, 1.7 times higher than the planned increase of 2,000 students, is expected to bolster the government’s quota expansion push, which has been encountering strong opposition from doctors, medical students and professors who walked out of hospitals
Social Affairs March 5, 2024
-
Seoul starts to suspend license of 7,000 unreturned doctors
The South Korean government on Monday started taking legal steps against some 7,000 trainee doctors who refused to return to work by moving to suspend their licenses for at least three months. Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during Monday’s briefing that those who defy the government’s return-to-work orders would be notified of their license suspension on Tuesday. Health authorities have begun on-site investigations at 50 training hospitals to determine the exact number
Social Affairs March 4, 2024
-
[From the Scene] Day of Rage: Doctors resist pressure to bend
Expressing frustration and anger at the South Korean government’s recent decision to increase the annual medical school quota by 2,000 starting in 2025, tens of thousands of doctors, interns, residents and medical students walked the picket line Sunday afternoon to urge a reversal of the planned hike. Chants of “Let’s fight together, let’s win together” reverberated through the crowd, reflecting determination even as the government has issued repeated warnings that
Social Affairs March 3, 2024
-
[KH Explains] Why doctors refuse to bend despite lack of public support
The recent mass walkout by junior doctors has led to unprecedented disruptions in South Korea’s otherwise well-regarded medical system. Both the government and doctors’ groups have refused to bend over plans to increase the number of places at medical schools. Both sides amped up their publicity efforts rather than actively seeking a compromise, as the government’s Thursday deadline for junior doctors to return to work loomed. The government has reiterated the need for medica
Social Affairs Feb. 29, 2024
-
Police launch probe against 5 protesting doctors
Police said Wednesday they launched an investigation against five protesting doctors affiliated with the Korea Medical Association, the country’s largest doctors’ group, for charges of breaching medical law. Officials added that the case had been assigned to the public crime investigation division under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The announcement came a day after the health ministry filed complaints against the five, marking the first instance of legal action taken against
Social Affairs Feb. 28, 2024
-
As criticism mounts, med students engage in community service
As negative sentiment continues to build toward the medical sector after junior doctors walked out of hospitals and training programs in protest of the government’s decision to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota, medical students said they would engage in community service while taking time off from their studies. An emergency response committee at Yonsei University College of Medicine on Monday kicked off volunteering activities to provide free meals for the elderly, dist
Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2024
-
[From the Scene] 12 hours to get ER treatment -- it could get worse
Kim, a mother in her 30s, arrived at Seoul National University Hospital’s emergency room on 5 a.m., Friday, after her preschool son’s temperature surged at midnight and he was losing energy. But she was not able to meet a doctor until 3 p.m., after almost 12 hours waiting on a bench outside of the ER with her crying son. “(My son) wasn’t feeling well last night. His temperature went too high, his face got red and he was sweating for days, so ... (I had to come here),&rdqu
Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024
-
Health care crisis hits highest level amid doctor walkout
The South Korean government said it has elevated the health care crisis level to the highest position, as of Friday at 8 a.m., in response to the collective walkout of junior doctors as they show little signs of returning. The highest level of seriousness in the four-tier warning system had previously been issued during the COVID-19 pandemic over a spike in confirmed cases, but this is the first time the government has lifted the gauge to seriousness regarding health care. In an effort to minimi
Social Affairs Feb. 23, 2024
-
Key doctors’ group to hold mass protest on March 3
The major lobby group for doctors said Thursday that it would stage a massive rally in Seoul with all of its members from across the county on March 3 to protest the government’s move to significantly increase the number of seats at medical schools. The demonstration, initially set for March 10, was moved up at the doctors’ urging, according to the Korean Medical Association, the largest group of doctors here with some 140,000 members. As the two sides continue to lock horns over the
Social Affairs Feb. 22, 2024
-
Number of surgeries halved as hospitals suffer from strike
The number of surgeries being performed at Seoul’s “Big Five” hospitals was reduced by 30 to 50 percent due to a staff shortage over junior doctors’ resignation en masse on Wednesday, putting patients’ health at risk amid escalating confrontation between doctors and the government. Severance Hospital reduced its operations by 50 percent, while Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital said they had canceled around 30 percent of
Social Affairs Feb. 21, 2024
-
[News Focus] Why do Korean doctors oppose having more physicians?
Thousands of medical doctors, the essential force for the care and treatment of critical patients, left their hospitals Tuesday in protest of the government’s policy to expand the number of medical school students. South Korea’s medical landscape has been gripped with the fear of a major health care crisis, with doctors leaving their patients, claiming that the nation does not need more doctors because it has enough already and that the policy change will lower the quality of medical
Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2024
-
Patients on edge as doctors prepare for hospital walkout
Medical institutions were in a frantic dash Monday morning as junior doctors at Seoul’s “Big Five” hospitals moved to tender their resignation letters en masse Monday and walk out of their jobs on Tuesday at 6 a.m. in protest against the government’s planned hike in medical school enrollment quota. With a face full of worry, a woman in her 60s grabbed onto medical personnel at the main lobby of Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul, asking if she would be able
Social Affairs Feb. 19, 2024
Most Popular
-
1
Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
-
2
Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
-
3
[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
-
4
S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
-
5
[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
-
6
Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
-
7
On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
-
8
Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
-
9
Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
-
10
[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?