China News Service, February 21. According to Yonhap News Agency's report on the 21st, as South Korean interns and resident doctors continue to resign and leave their jobs to protest the government's policy of expanding medical school enrollment, the vacancies in medical services are worrying.
According to news from the Korean government and the medical community on the 21st, as of 11 p.m. on the 19th, a total of 6,415 interns and residents in 100 internship hospitals across the country had submitted resignation reports, accounting for about 55% of the total number. The total number of intern residents in South Korea is 13,000, 95% of whom work in these hospitals. Various hospitals have not yet accepted the resignation reports, and 1,630 (about 25%) of the doctors who have resigned have left their units.
According to reports, South Korea’s Ministry of Welfare has ordered doctors in 221 internship hospitals across the country to maintain diagnostic and treatment services on the 19th, and issued orders to return to work for 831 people who resigned, responding to this wave of "resignations" with a tough attitude. But collective action by the medical community is predicted to continue for some time to come. More than 100 representatives from training hospitals across the country held an impromptu meeting on the 20th to discuss countermeasures. Although the outcome of the meeting is not yet known, the resident doctors said they would express their position.
According to reports, South Korean intern residents are the main force in the medical team of various hospitals. Their collective actions have led to vacancies in medical services and inconvenience to patients. The Ministry of Welfare has opened a medical strike victim reporting center on the 19th. On the first day of operation, the center received a total of 103 reports, of which 34 were victim complaints and 25 were operations canceled.