Articles by Park Jun-hee
Park Jun-hee
junheee@heraldcorp.com-
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
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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
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[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
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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
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Govt. urges restraint as junior doctors plan joint action
The Korean government on Sunday issued a public plea urging doctors to abstain from joint action that could disrupt nationwide medical services. The statement comes as interns and residents prepare to stage a walkout this week in protest against the government’s decision to increase medical school enrollment quotas by over 60 percent. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo urged junior doctors to reconsider taking their gowns off, saying that citizens would have to bear the brunt of collective action
Social Affairs Feb. 18, 2024
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[From the Scene] ‘South Korea’s health care died on Feb. 6’
Unleashing pent-up anger against the government’s decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058, hundreds of doctors from the Seoul Medical Association, along with medical students, interns and residents and their families, walked the picket line on Thursday to urge a reversal of the planned hike. The picket was part of massive protests staged by doctors’ groups nationwide beginning Tuesday, marking the first collective action by doctors gro
Social Affairs Feb. 16, 2024
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Ministry downplays risk of doctors’ strike despite growing calls for action
While medical circles have shown signs of momentum for collective action across the country, the Health Ministry on Thursday downplayed the possibility of them walking out of school campuses and jobs, saying it judges the likelihood of a full-scale joint action as “very low.” Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said during Thursday’s press briefing that the ministry has seen no movements at this point, adding that reports that junior doctors have submitted t
Social Affairs Feb. 15, 2024
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Med students mull strike over student quota expansion
With doctors groups still mulling a strike, incumbent medical students are also mulling collective action in protest of the government’s announcement last week of an increase in the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058. The Korea Association of Medical Colleges, a group of current medical students, held an all-night online meeting earlier in the day, attended by representatives of each university’s medical school, to discuss submitting for leave of absence,
Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024
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Under pressure, junior doctors leave strike decision hanging
Tensions continued to build Tuesday between doctors and the government, with a group of over 10,000 junior doctors ending their first discussion about joining the nationwide strike without reaching a conclusion. Instead, they decided to forge an emergency committee in an apparent move to escalate their offensive against the government plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota. The Korea Intern Resident Association, consisting of thousands of junior doctors essential to the critical ca
Social Affairs Feb. 13, 2024
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Doctors, government lock horns over medical school expansion
Medical circles continue to lock horns with the government following the announcement of an increase in medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 from the current 3,058, as they mull joint action in protest of the decision. In response, the Health Ministry said Thursday afternoon it had issued orders to prohibit doctors from engaging in collective action and specialists from resigning en masse. The ministry raised the national health crisis level to alert -- the third highest in the four-tier
Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2024
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Doctors, government lock horns over medical school expansion
Medical circles continue to lock horns with the government following the announcement of an increase in medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 from the current 3,058, as they mull joint action in protest of the decision. In response, the Health Ministry said Thursday afternoon it had issued orders to prohibit doctors from engaging in collective action and specialists from resigning en masse. The ministry raised the national health crisis level to alert -- the third highest in the four-tier
Social Affairs Feb. 8, 2024
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Race for med school heats up after hike in student quota
The race for medical school enrollment has kicked off nationwide following the government’s decision on Tuesday to increase the quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to ease the staffing problem and improve access to healthcare services, according to experts on Wednesday. Woo Youn-cheol, a team leader at Jinhak Educational Assessment Research Institute, pointed out that there would be a particular increase in the number of retakers for the Suneung, or the country’s national college e
Social Affairs Feb. 7, 2024
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S. Korea to increase med students by 2,000 despite doctors’ threat to strike
The South Korean government on Tuesday announced it will increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 to address the shortage of doctors in non-metropolitan areas and broaden the reach of healthcare services despite the medical circle’s strong opposition and threat to hold a nationwide strike. According to the plan, approved by the medical policy review body held on Tuesday afternoon, the number of medical students will be increased to 5,058. The hike is the first in 27 years sinc
Social Affairs Feb. 6, 2024
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Gangnam, Seocho districts see rise in first-year middle schoolers
Amid the shrinking school population, the two affluent neighborhoods in South Korea known for their excellent academics saw a spike in enrollment for first-year middle schoolers, reflecting parents’ zeal to provide better educational opportunities for their children, government data showed Monday. A total of 9,654 middle first-year students were assigned to schools in Gangnam and Seocho areas, both south of Seoul, a 1.36 percent increase, or up 130 students from last year’s figure of
Social Affairs Feb. 5, 2024
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Home prices drive Seoulites out of town
More than 5.47 million Seoulites have moved to a different metro area in the last 10 years, government data showed Monday, as home prices and uncertainties in the real estate market drive many to relocate to cities with more affordable housing. Of the total, some 1.74 million people said their main reason for leaving the city between 2014 and 2023 was housing, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service data on the number of people who relocated from Seoul to other cities and provinc
Social Affairs Feb. 5, 2024
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