Feb. 24

• ●[WHY] What's the big deal with becoming a doctor in Korea? (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  In Korea, even elementary school students attend cram schools pecifically designed to prepare themselves for the competitive medical school admissions process.
  
  

• ●Medical grads abandon internships, robbing hospitals of respite hopes (The Korea Herald)
  South Korea's health crisis deepened Sunday as recent medical graduates began to join doctors' collective action against medical school expansion by refusing to take up internships, dashing what hopes there were that they might fill the health vacuum left by striking trainee doctors.
  
  

• ●Hospitals experience disruptions on extended doctors' walkout (The Korea Herald)
  Major hospitals across the country continued to experience disruptions Saturday as thousands of trainee doctors remained off their jobs for the fifth consecutive day in protest against the government's plan to raise the medical school enrollment quota.
  
  

• ●Parents of 7 first to receive W10m for childbirth in Seoul (The Korea Herald)
  A young couple who recently welcomed their seventh child became the first family in Seoul to receive a 10-million-won ($7,500) subsidy for bearing multiple children, the district office of Jung-gu in central Seoul said Thursday.

Feb. 25

• ●Fewer S. Koreans take parental leave; more opt to reduce work hours (The Korea Herald)
  The number of South Korean nationals taking parental leave dipped by 3.9 percent in 2023 compared to the year before, though an increasing number of parents are using the state-backed reduced work hours system, according to a recent Ministry of Employment and Labor report.
  
  

• ●Pediatricians' incomes less than half what eye doctors get: report (The Korea Herald)
  A recent government report showed substantial income disparity among South Korean doctors, with the annual income of physicians in fields like opthalmology, neurosurgery and dermatology being more than double that of pediatricians.
  
  

• ●Junior doctors' strike expands in show of solidarity against gov't plan (The Korea Times)
  Walkouts staged by trainee doctors in protest at the government's plan to increase the number of medical students are showing signs of spreading to all doctor groups, including medical school graduates and professors.

Feb. 26

• ●Govt. says trainee doctors won't be held accountable if they return to work by Thursday (The Korea Herald)
  The government said Monday it will not hold trainee doctors accountable if they return to work by Thursday as intern and resident doctors stayed off the job for the seventh day in protest of the medical school quota hike plan.
  
  

• ●Concerns over public health deepen as mass walkout by trainee doctors enters 7th day (The Korea Herald)
  Concerns over public health deepened Monday as surgeries were delayed or reduced as thousands of trainee doctors didn't come to work for the seventh day in a row in protest of the government's plan to boost the number of medical students.
  
  

• ●Gov't says trainee doctors won't be held accountable if they return to work by Thursday (The Korea Times)
  The government said Monday it will not hold trainee doctors accountable if they return to work by Thursday as intern and resident doctors stayed off the job for the seventh day in protest of the medical school quota hike plan.
  
  

• ●Trainee doctors explain why they protest against reforms (The Chosun Daily)
  Trainee doctors in South Korea are taking a stand against the government's decision to expand medical school admissions by 2000, prompting them to submit resignation letters in protest.
  
  

• ●Return to work by Thursday or else, gov't warns trainee doctors (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government said Monday that it won't hold striking trinee doctors responsible for their mass resignations and walkouts if they return by Thursday.
  
  

• ●University spots left open as Korea's young population diminishes (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Even universities in Seoul, typically favored by college applicants, struggled to meet their regular admission quotas this year due to a sharp decline in the school-age population.
  
  

• ●No repercussions if you return by Thursday, gov't tells trainee doctors (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government on Monday said that trainee doctors returning to hospitals by Thursday will not be held accountable for their mass resignations and walkouts.
  
  

• ●Over 150 elementary schools have no 1st graders: ministry (The Korea Herald)
  A total of 157 elementary schools across South Korea do not have any first graders set to enroll in March, the Ministry of Education said Monday, as a record-low number of new students is expected for the upcoming school year.
  
  

• ●[From the Scene] 12 hours to get ER treatment--it could get worse (The Korea Herald)
  Kim, a mother in her 30s, arrived at Seoul National University Hospital's emergency room on 5 a.m., Friday, after her preschool son's temperature surged at midnight and he was losing energy.
  
  

• ●Even as patient care system reels, Korean doctors double down on protests (The Hankyoreh)
  After the South Korean government elevated the public health and medical crisis to the highest level of "severe" amid a walkout by medical interns and residents nationwide, members of the country's largest doctor lobby held an emergency meeting where they reiterated their intent to fight the administration on its plan to increase medical school admission quotas.
  
  

• ●Pupils before patients: Korean med school faculty mull joining trainee doctors' collective action (The Hankyoreh)
  With South Korea raising its healthcare crisis level to its highest rating of "severe" in response to the mass resignation of interns and residents protesting a rise in the medical college admission cap, representatitives of physician groups held an emergency meeting where they asserted that the "entire medical community will use all lawful means and methods avaialable to resist until the end if the administration unilaterally implements its policy."
  
  

• ●Foreign missions to represent migrant workers in filing industrial injury insurance claims (The Korea Times)
  Foreign missions in Korea can now represent workers from their countries who file industrial injury insurance claims.
  
  

• ●Seoul to supply shared houses for 1-person households at up to 50% discount (The Korea Times)
  The Seoul city government will provide shared houses at discounted rates for singles to cater to the city's growing number of one-person households, city officials said Monday.
  
  

• ●Gov't issues ultimatum for trainee doctors to return to work (The Korea Times)
  The government issued an ultimatum on Monday to trainee doctors who stopped work for a seventh day to protest against the government's plan to boost medical students, warning that it could begin suspending the licenses of trainee doctors next month unless they return to work soon.
  
  

• ●S. Korean government states "More than 80% of resident doctors resigned" (The Chosun Daily)
  As of Feb. 26, over 10,000 doctors have resigned from their positions in protest of the government's proposal to increase the number of medical school students.
  
  

• ●Universities struggle to fill classes amid population decline (The Korea Times)
  Universities in Korea are struggling to fill their classes as the number of first-year students matriculating to colleges this spring falls short of their intended class sizes amid the country's falling birthrate.

Feb. 27

• ●University ranking hierarchy leads to wage gap later in life: study (The Korea Herald)
  Graduates of universities with higher admission requirements make as much as 50 percent more than the graduates of lower-ranked universities, a study by a state-run think-tank showed Tuesday.
  
  

• ●S. Korea sees highest-ever levels of self-employed older people (The Korea Herald)
  Recent government statistics showed that in 2023, 2.07 million South Koreans aged 60 or above ran small businesses in the country, marking the first time the figure surpassed the 2-million mark.
  
  

• ●Legality issues linger as nurses fill treatment void Tuesday (The Korea Herald)
  As South Korea grapples with a medical service vacuum in hospitals over a week after residents walked out in protest against the government's plan to increase the annual medical enrollment quota, nurses started filling the void Tuesday despite the lingering uncertainties over legality issues.
  
  

• ●As criticism mounts, med students engage in community service (The Korea Herald)
  As negative sentiment continues to build toward the medical sector after junior doctors walked out of hospitals and training programs in protest of the government's decision to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota, medical students said they would engage in community service while taking time off from their studies.
  
  

• ●A week of protests lays bare many inherent vices of Korean health care system (The Hankyoreh)
  the mass resignations of medical residents and interns that kicked off on Feb. 19 have left massive vacuums in the Korea's health care system, a demonstration of the system's inherent fragility.
  
  

• ●Trainee doctors who don't return to work by Thursday will face legal consequences, Korea warns (The Hankyoreh)
  The South Korean government has given medical interns and residents an ultimatum: obey the government's order to return to work by Thursday or face legal consequences--including the suspension of their medical licenses.
  
  

• ●Pregnant women, respiratory patients recommended to work from home in case of ultrafine dust advisory (The Korea Times)
  Pregnant women and people with respiratory symptoms are recommended to work from home in case of serious or prolonged fine dust pollution, the environment ministry said Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Health ministry steps up warning against trainee doctors as Thursday deadline looms (The Korea Times)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday that trainee doctors would face legal punishment, including suspension of their licenses, unless they go back to work by the Thursday deadline, stepping up warnings against thousands of junior doctors who left hospitals to protest against a plan to boost medical students.

Feb. 28

• ●Mass walkout by trainee doctors nears deadline as health services crippled (The Korea Herald)
  A mass walkout by trainee doctors is approaching a deadline set by the government to return to work, as medical services have been crippled with both the government and junior doctors showing little signs of backing down.
  
  

• ●South Korea vows to push ahead with medical reforms amid doctors' strike (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed his commitment to increasing the number of medical school admissions by 2,000 on Feb. 27.
  
  

• ●Constitutional Court rules against ban on disclosing sex of fetus (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The current law banning physicians from informing parents of a fetus's sex before 32 weeks of pregnancy was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Gov't mulling to ease cousin marriage bans (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday that it had yet to decide on whether to relax restrictions on consanguineous marriage from third cousins to cousins.
  
  

• ●Health services disrupted as mass walkout by trainee doctors approaches deadline (The Korea Herald)
  Medical services at major hospitals have been disrupted as a mass walkout by trainee doctors is nearing a deadline set by the government to return to work, but a small number of junior doctors went back to work.
  
  

• ●'Without us it'd collapse': Faculty pull 90-hour week in major Korean hospitals amid trainee walkout (The Hankyoreh)
  "Some of the professors and fellows are working 90-hour weeks. If this keeps up for another two weeks or longer, doctors are going to start collapsing."
  
  

• ●Korean government tries both carrots and sticks to get doctors back to work (The Hankyoreh)
  The South Korean government is hurrying to meet the demands of medical professionals by enacting a special law on medical malpractice procedures, while also moving to submit criminal complaints against officials in physician groups.
  
  

• ●Population mobility rises by most in 3 years in January (The Korea Times)
  The number of Koreans who moved to different residences in the country rose by the most in three years last month amid rising home transactions, data showed Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Demographic time bomb in Korea over world's lowest birth rate, super aging (The Korea Times)
  The unprecedentedly low birth rate in Korea last year highlighted the daunting demographic task in the country is facing of how to prevent depopulation amid little signs of improvement over changing social norms and tougher economic circumstances, experts said Wednesday.
  
  

• ●South Korea ranks lowest in OECD for large company jobs (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korea ranks the lowest among the 32 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) regarding the share of large company jobs, according to the Korea Development Institute (KDI), a state-run research institute.
  
  

• ●No Housing for Older Men: Only 0.6% of South Korea's housing for seniors (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korea, wich has one of the fastest aging populations in the world, adds 230,000 elderly households aged 65 and older every year.
  
  

• ●South Korea vows to push ahead with medical reforms amid doctors' strike (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed his commitment to increasing the number of medical school admissions by 2,000 on Feb. 27.

Feb. 29

• ●Gov't to start accepting work permit applications for foreigners in food, hotel industries in April (The Korea Times)
  The government will begin accepting employment permit applications for foreign workers in the food service, hotel and condo industries starting April.
  
  

• ●Nearly 300 trainee doctors return to work between Tuesday and Wednesday (The Korea Times)
  Nearly 300 trainee doctors who walked off their jobs to protest the government's plan to increase medical school admissions returned to work during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, an official said Thursday.
  
  

• ●S. Korea's fertility rate hits another record low of 0.65, raising the concern of extinction (The Chosun Daily)
  Last year, Korea's total fertility rate recorded 0.72, which decreased by 0.06 from the previous year.
  
  

• ●Gov't warns striking doctors it will take action from Friday (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government said it will begin to take legal and administrative actions against striking trainee doctors starting Friday, a day after the grace period for their volunatry return expires, the Health Ministry said Thursday.
  
  

• ●Health minister urges return of junior doctors as under 300 rejoin (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The health minister urged striking junior doctors to return by Thursday, marking the end of the grace period, during his appearance on a radio show on the same day.
  
  

• ●Most doctors refuse to end strike on last day of ultimatum (The Korea Herald)
  Only 294 of 9,000 striking junior doctors on strike returned to work on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday.
  
  

• ●Court rules against ban on doctors revealing sex of unborn child (The Korea Herald)
  Parents will now be legally able to find out the sex of their unborn children before 32 weeks of pregnancy in South Korea.
  
  

• ●[KH explains] Why doctors refuse to bend despite lack of public support (The Korea Herald)
  The recent mass walkout by junior doctors has led to unprecedented disruptions in South Korea's otherwise well-regarded medical system.
  
  

• ●Korea's trainee doctors continue walkout on eve of back-to-work order deadline (The Hankyoreh)
  One day before the Thursday deadline set by the South Korean government for interns and residents to return to work, a small number had gone back to their jobs, while the vast majority carried on with their collective action protesting a planned increase in the nationwide medical college admission gap.
  
  

• ●Cash incentives prove ineffective at remedying real causes of low birth rate: long working hours, gender inequality (The Hankyoreh)
  On Wednesday, Statistics Korea reported that South Korea's total fertility rate last year had reached a new low of 0.72, which raises questions about whether the government is capable of devising effective measures for societal aging and tumbling birth rates.
  
  

• ●Korea's ban on fetal sex disclosure prior to 32 weeks ruled unconstitutional (The Hankyoreh)
  A Korean law prohibiting the disclosure of fetal sex that has been on the books for the past 37 years has been ruled uncontitutional by the country's Constitutional Court.
  
  

• ●2.5 million foreigners live in Korea, but little assistance is offered to the fast-growing segment (The Hankyoreh)
  South Korea's international population has continued to grow amid an all-time low birth rate and trends of population aging and decline.
  
  

• ●South Korea's birth rate falls to 0.72, another new low (The Hankyoreh)
  South Korea posted a birth rate of 0.72 in 2023, setting another record low.