South Korea standoff worsens as doctors defy return-to-work deadline

SEOUL -- Striking trainee doctors in South Korea continued their protest on Thursday, defying a government deadline to return to work and escalating a crisis that has shaken the nation's health care system.

The Ministry of Health said at a briefing earlier in the day that out of more than 9,000 trainee doctors who left their workplaces, only 294 had returned. The government said this week that any trainees who went back to work by Thursday would not face legal consequences for their absences.