South Korea: government opens door to dialogue with doctors as elections approach
As the legislative elections approach, this Wednesday, April 10, the South Korean government is being more conciliatory with doctors even though it has been more than a month and a half since interns and medical professors have been on strike against the increase in
the numerus clausus
. A turnaround which comes as a controversy grows around the death of several patients due to the lack of doctors in hospitals.
Long uncompromising on the need to increase the number of medical students next year, President Yoon Suk-yeol (our photo) showed signs of softening last week. REUTERS - DAEWOUNG KIM
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With our correspondent in Seoul
,
Nicolas Rocca
A change in the reform is not “
physically
” impossible, according to an official from the Ministry of Health this Monday, April 8. After having shown firmness, the government's position becomes more and more flexible as the elections approach.
Signs of softening
Long uncompromising on the need to increase the number of medical students by 2,000 next year, President Yoon Suk-yeol already showed signs of relaxation last week. He had met with one of the leaders of the
intern movement
, calling for more reasonable demands from them. Negotiations must begin after the election, but the government wants to show that it is looking for a positive outcome, because the absence of 12,000 interns who have resigned for more than six weeks now is cruelly felt.
Overloaded hospitals
The capital's largest hospitals are overloaded by the influx of patients who have not been able to seek treatment elsewhere. In the South Korean media, stories of patients who died because they were unable to be admitted to hospitals are piling up. The population has long supported the reform intended to increase the number of doctors, since South Korea's ratio of doctors per capita is one of the lowest in the OECD. But the duration of the social conflict as well as the consequences on the health system are beginning to weigh on the government's popularity.
Read alsoIn South Korea, ex-minister Cho-Kuk forges a third path in uncertain legislative elections
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