the government announces suspending the licenses of thousands of young doctors on strike

A widely followed work stoppage, which disrupted the operation of hospitals and caused the cancellation of almost half of surgical operations in one week. The South Korean government announced on Tuesday March 5 that it was beginning to suspend the licenses of young striking doctors. Objective: to sanction them for having left their hospitals to protest against a reform of medical training.

In total, the government has identified some 7,800 young doctors who defied the return-to-work order by the February 29 deadline. “As soon as we have confirmation that they have violated the return to work order, we will send a notice of administrative action from” on Tuesday, one of the vice health ministers, Park Min-soo, said during a press conference, referring to the suspension of their license. South Korean law prohibits doctors from striking.

Some 10,000 young doctors resigned and stopped working almost two weeks ago to protest an increase in medical school admissions from next year, aimed at improving healthcare provision for an aging population . The strikers believe that this reform will harm the quality of traininga profession already facing difficult working conditions, including grueling shifts in emergency rooms. Despite the suspension warning, most strikers continued their movement, according to government data. As of Monday, nearly 9,000 trainee doctors were still on strike.