South Korea suspends two doctors' licences over walkouts

South Korea has suspended the medical licences of two doctors, the Korean Medical Association said on Tuesday (Mar 19), in the first punitive action over a month-long strike that has caused healthcare chaos.

Thousands of junior doctors stopped working on Feb 20 to protest government reforms aimed at creating more medics to end shortages and deal with a rapidly ageing population, forcing hospitals to cancel crucial treatments and surgeries including chemotherapy and C-sections.

The government has repeatedly urged doctors to return to their patients, warning of legal action for non-compliance, but the standoff has spiralled, with senior doctors now threatening to join their junior colleagues and no serious talks underway.

Two officials from the Korean Medical Association, which has been heavily involved in the walkout, were informed Monday that their licenses had been suspended for three months, purportedly for instigating the strike.

«The two officials, Kim Taek-woo and Park Myung-ha received the notice yesterday,» spokesperson Lee Seok-young told AFP.

A health ministry spokesperson told AFP that the government would not provide confirmation regarding the specific administrative actions taken against individual physicians.

The KMA has previously accused the government of using «intimidation tactics» to try to force doctors back to work, and said it was turning the country into a «totalitarian state».

Under South Korean law, doctors are restricted from striking, and the government has requested police investigate people connected to the stoppage, including officials at the KMA.

«The government deeply regrets the current situation where even professors are considering resigning following the footsteps of trainees,» second