South Korea reverses plan to suspend licenses of striking doctors

SOURCE www.nbcnews.com
South Korea reverses plan to suspend licenses of striking doctors in efforts to resolve medical impasse, aiming to address shortage of doctors treating emergency and serious patients and restore training system to add more professional doctors.

Key Points

  • More than 13,000 junior doctors walked off the job in February
  • Government aims to add up to 10,000 doctors by 2035 to cope with fast-aging population
  • Striking doctors caused cancellations of surgeries and other care, threatening to disrupt medical services

Pros

  • Address shortage of doctors treating emergency and serious patients
  • Restore training system to add more professional doctors

Cons

  • Could invite criticism for not suspending licenses of all striking doctors
  • May hurt fairness principle in government's dealing with other labor strikes