South Korea senior doctors quit, escalating crisis as officials threaten to revoke trainee licences

Junior doctors on Tuesday said they had no intention of returning to work even as officials launched steps to suspend their licences, warning that demonstrators would face serious problems in their future careers.

Yun Woo-sung of the Kyungpook National University School of Medicine on Monday became the first professor to resign over the issue, and others have said they would “not sit idle” if junior doctors were “hurt”, as neither side shows signs of backing down in the gridlock that has dragged on for weeks.

“This measure is irreversible,” Second Vice-Health Minister Park Min-soo told journalists, as government officials on Tuesday visited 50 hospitals around the country to conduct checks on the attendance rates of trainee doctors.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA), which represents private practitioners, on Monday urged the government to rethink its reforms and accused authorities of a “witch-hunt” against doctors.

Some 9,000 residents and intern doctors – about 70 per cent of the country’s trainee doctors – have resigned since February 20 over a government proposal to increase the number of students admitted to medical schools from 3,000 to 5,000 from next year, to plug doctor shortages in the rapidly ageing country.

South Korea ranks near the bottom in the developed world for its number of medical school graduates per capita, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

A female resident in her early 30s told journalists on Tuesday that, like many of her colleagues, she was anxious about her future career path following government threats to suspend trainee doctors’ licences.

“I wonder if I am living in a democratic country or not,” said the resident, who covered her face with a mask