South Korean government accuses medical professors preparing to resign of 'blackmail'

The South Korean government has accused numerous medical school professors, who are preparing to submit their resignations in support of trainee doctors protesting the increase in quotas, of "blackmailing the Korean people."

According to Yonhap, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo spoke regarding the medical professors who will begin submitting their resignations starting March 25 to support the trainee doctors' protest.

Accusing the professors of "blackmailing the Korean people" for preparing a mass resignation, Park stated that the increase in medical school quotas is not open to negotiation and that the government will not take a step back on this issue.

Park also stated that calls for increasing health insurance payments made to doctors would not be accepted.

Medical professors announced yesterday that they would submit their resignations to the universities where they work starting March 25 to ensure the government finds a solution regarding the trainee doctors protesting the quota increase.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare had decided to increase medical school quotas by 2,000 people due to the insufficiency of healthcare services in rural and critical medical fields.

Following this, doctors in the country organized protests on February 20 in many cities, primarily in the capital Seoul, on the grounds that the government's plan would "degrade the quality of medical education and services," and thousands of trainee doctors submitted their resignations.

Due to the mass resignation of trainee and resident doctors, nurses were granted permission on March 8 to perform CPR and administer medication to patients in emergency departments.

Warning notices were sent to approximately 5,000 trainee doctors who submitted their resignations, stating that their licenses would be suspended.

News Source: AA