South Korea’s largest doctors’ organization voted in favor of a strike on June 18. It is the first time that she has taken collective action to protest against the government’s plans to reform the medical sector.
The Korean Medical Association said 64,139 doctors, or 90.6% of those who participated in last week’s strike referendum, supported the strike. Lim Hyun-taek, head of the KMA, said in a statement that the group represents 140,000 doctors and 20,000 medical students nationwide.
The new move comes after the country faced months of disruption to medical services as trainee doctors at hospitals walked off work to protest the government’s decision to increase the number of seats in medical schools. Despite that outcry, the government has finalized adding some 1,500 places to the national admissions quota, the first increase in 27 years.
“We issue a stern warning to the government,” Lim said in the statement on Sunday. “The government must end the tyrannical policies of the past four months and apologize to the public.”
On the same day before the association’s announcement, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the government will not impose sanctions on trainee doctors returning to work.
