China News Service, February 22 (Xinhua) According to Yonhap News Agency, on the 22nd local time, large-scale collective resignations and layoffs of intern and resident doctors across South Korea entered the third day. The government issued a resumption order while maintaining a strict response stance.
However, the conflicts between the two parties continued to intensify, and in the end only the patients were the ones to "pay" for the consequences.
According to reports, the South Korean government said that day that a total of 8,816 interns and resident doctors in the country's 100 major internship hospitals submitted resignation reports, accounting for nearly 70% of the total of more than 13,000 people.
Among them, 7,813 people were actually absent from work.
South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare has so far issued orders to 6,228 interns and residents to return to work, and 3,377 have received confirmation of non-return from their hospitals.
According to reports, the "Korean Internship and Resident Doctors Association", a group of Korean interns and residents, held an emergency meeting of representatives on the 20th, demanding that the government withdraw its plan to expand medical student enrollment, fully cancel the order to return to work, and improve the working environment of interns and residents. .
The Korean Medical Association, a professional medical group, also stated that while the right to life of citizens is important, the freedom of doctors to choose their profession is also the basic right of citizens and should be respected.
At the same time, the South Korean government insists on enforcing the law in accordance with principles. The two sides are tit-for-tat and refuse to give in to each other.
The day before, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Administrative and Security Affairs, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and the National Police Agency held a meeting to discuss the response plan for collective actions in the medical community. They made it clear that they would strictly deal with those medical students who instigated illegal collective actions to protest against the government in accordance with the principles of arrest and investigation. Expansion plan personnel.
As the conflicts between the Korean government and the medical community intensified, many patients' surgical schedules were blocked.
Hospitals prioritize emergency and seriously ill patients for surgeries, while non-urgent diagnoses and surgeries are postponed to the maximum extent possible.
Samsung Seoul Hospital reduced its surgical schedule by 10% on the 19th and further reduced it to 30% on the 20th.
Yonsei University Severance Hospital and Gangnam Severance Hospital have cut their surgical schedules in half.