KIHASA Update
Window on Korean Society: March 16-22
- Date 2024-03-18
- Hits 408
Mar. 16
●[Weekender] A new equation in sharing costs of marriage (The Korea Herald)
"The goom provides the home, and the bride furnishes it" has been a long-standing custom in Korean marriages.●68% of Korean adults living with parents won't move out until marriage (The Korea Herald)
A recent survey showed that the vast majority of South Korean adults living with their parents in apartments have no plans to move out until they are married.●Medical professors to submit resignations starting March 25 in support of trainee doctors' walkout (The Korea Herald)
Medical professors across the nation have decided to submit resignations starting March 25 in collective action pressuring the government to seek a breakthrough in the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, a medical professors' group said Saturday.
Mar. 17
●Medical school professors to resign en masse nationwide (Korea JoongAng Daily)
Professors at 16 medical schools have decided to unanimously submit their resignation letters starting March 25, according to a medical professors' group.●Only half of S. Koreans willing to marry: data (The Korea Herald)
Only half of South Korea's adult population is willing to get married, with fewer than half expressing intentions to have children in the future, according to the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Aging on Sunday.●Koreans, Americans differ on prestigious jobs: lawmakers vs. firefighters (The Korea Herald)
Individuals from South Korea, China, and Japan perceive lawmakers as holding the highest societal status job, whereas those from the United States and Germany consider firefighters to have the highest social status, according to survey results released Sunday.●Med professors to resign starting March 25 (The Korea Herald)
South Korea's healthcare system faces yet another challenge as medical professors announce they will submit their resignations autonomously starting March 25, ending their involvement in patient care and surgical procedures.●Gov't accuses medical professors of blackmailing people with collective resignations (The Korea Times)
Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo accused medical professors Sunday of blackmainling people after they decided to submit resignations en masse later this month in protest of the government's decision to increase the country's medical school enrollment quota.●Collapse of emergency medical system looms large (The Korea Times)
Concerns over the collapse of the emergency medical system are intensifying as professors at medical schools nationwide have decided to submit their resignations from their respective universities after March 25.●S. Korea gov refuses to back down despite growing doctors' strike (The Chosun Daily)
There is an escalating conflict between medical professionals and the South Korean government.
Mar. 18
●Health minister voices grave concern about looming resignations of medical professors (The Korea Herald)
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Monday expressed grave concerns about a decision by medical professors to resign en masse in support of junior doctors' walkout that has crippled medical services for nearly a month.●Gov't considers negotiating med school admission quota (Korea JoongAng Daily)
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday urgently called on the medical sector to "enter talks" with the government, asking them to trust authorities amid continuing disarray between health care professionals and the authorities.●Gov't commits $2.2B to pediatrics, obstetrics amid admission quotas debate (Korea JoongAng Daily)
Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo announced on Monday that the government plans to inject over 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) into pediatrics and obstetrics.●Health ministry sends final notice of license suspension to 2 leaders of doctors' group (The Korea Herald)
The health ministry has sent a final notice of license suspension to two leaders of a lobby group of senior doctors, the two doctors said Monday, marking the first formal suspension of a license since trainee doctors walked off their job in protest of a plan to increase the number of medical students.●Study finds decline in young workers' job satisfaction and sense of meaning (The Korea Herald)
Korean workers are experiencing decreased job satisfaction, amid an increasing tendency to value financial gains and a healthy work-life balance, a report showed Sunday.●Thousands of Korean med students could be forced to repeat a grade amid mass class boycott (The Hankyoreh)
It's now been over a month since medical students in Korea walked out of classrooms in protest of the government's policy initiative to increase the annual national medical school admissions quota by 2,000 students.●One month into standoff, Korean doctors and government each dig in heels (The Hankyoreh)
Nearly a month has passed since South Korean interns and residents collectively submitted their resignations to protest a planned increase in the nationwide medical college admission cap.●Yoon meets doctors, asks them to engage in dialogue with gov't (The Korea Times)
President Yoon Suk Yeol called on doctors Monday to trust the government and engage in dialobue as thousands of junior doctors remained off the job to protest the government's medical reform plans.●Will gov't, doctors move toward breakthrough in health care standoff? (The Korea Times)
Both the government and doctors are showing subtle changes to their positions amid the protracted confrontation over the medical school quota hike policy, raising cautious expectations that a breakthrough in the ongoing health care standoff caused by the nationwide walkout of trainee doctors could be reached in the near future.
Mar. 19
●Doctors say gov't abused power by suspending their licenses (Korea JoongAng Daily)
A doctors' group on Tuesday reported the government for abuse of power to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, firing back against the government's penalty imposed on doctors.●Koreans more open to foreigners in society than LGBTQ+: data (The Korea Herald)
Koreans are more open to accepting foreigners as members of their society compared with other social minority groups including sexual minorities and North Korean defectors, data by a state-affiliated think tank showed Tuesday.●Med professors resigning could lead to medical void (The Korea Herald)
Medical professors' decision to tender resignations starting next week will lead to a massive medical vacuum next month, setting off a worst-case scenario where only nurses would be left to fill the void, according to experts on Tuesday.●Health ministry chides medical professors for moving to resign in support of junior doctors' walkout (The Korea Herald)
The health ministry on Tuesday criticized medical professors of Seoul National University for deciding to resign en masse in support of a monthlong walkout by trainee doctors, saying such a move is unacceptable.●Yoon says medical licenses should not be used as tool against people (The Korea Herald)
President Yoon Suk Yeol lamented the ongoing walkout by junior doctors on Tuesday, saying their medical licenses should not be used as a tool against the people.●Marriages in Korea rise for first time in 12 years in 2023 (The Korea Times)
The number of marriages in Korea rose for the first time in more than a decade, but it hovered below the 200,000 level for three years in a row, data showed Tuesday.●Doctors' group files complaint against health minister over abuse of power (The Korea Times)
A group of doctors filed a complaint against the health minister and one of this deputies Tuesday in connection with a protracted row over the government's decision to increase the country's medical school enrollment quota.●Gov't to launch drug rehab boarding camp for teens (The Korea Times)
The government will officially launch a boarding camp program offering rehabilitation for teenagers addicted to drugs in the latter half of the year, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Tuesday.
Mar. 20
●Gov't to confirm expansion of medical college seats with focus on rural access (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The government will announce on Wednesday how many seats will be added to each medical college nationwide.●Gov't set to announce allocation of increased medical school seats (The Korea Times)
The government was set to announce Wednesday the allocation of an additional 2,000 medical school admission seats even as the biggest doctors' group threatens to launch a general strike to protest the quota hike.●Health minister doubles down on medical school quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Wednesday reiterated the government's hardline stance on increasing medical recruitment by 2,000 starting next year.●Seoul's medical schools get no new seats despite nationwide quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The government may have hiked medical school admissions by 2,000 seats nationwide, but Seoul-based schools will see no change in their admissions.
Mar. 21
●Gov't initiates discussion to improve working conditions for junior doctors (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The government will hold a discussion session on Thursday with medical professionals to improve the working conditions of junior doctors, aiming to address concerns raised by striking doctors.●Biggest immigration concern among youths, low-income earners: Competing with foreign workers (The Korea Herald)
Most Koreans support the establishment of an independent government agency for immigration services, despite worries among some Korean youths and low-earners that it will lead to competition with foreign workers for job opportunities, recent data showed.●ILO dismisses junior doctors' petition amid looming license suspensions (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) dismissed the junior doctors' intervention petition as the Korean government inches toward suspending the doctors' licenses.●Tensions flare as doctors, government ratchet up rhetoric on med school admission cap (The Hankyoreh)
The South Korean government's move to effectively finalize a 2,000-student increase in the nationwide medical college admission cap next year has led to an intensifying outcry from the medical community.●With seat allocations, Korea all but finalizes 2,000-student med school admission cap bump (The Hankyoreh)
Among the 2,000 additional spots the government is creating at medical schools around the country, 1,639 (82%) will be allotted to medical schools outside the greater Seoul area, while 18% of the spots are reserved for Gyeongi Province and Incheon.●Health ministry to start suspending licenses of defiant trainee doctors from next week (The Korea Times)
The health ministry said Thursday it will begin suspending medical licenses of trainee doctors who have defied a return-to-work order from next week, as the government pushed ahead with its plan to hike the number of medical students.●Surge in Vietnamese women remarrying Vietnamese men after gaining S. Korean citizenship (The Chosun Daily)
There has been a significant increase in the number of Vietnamese women who marry South Korean men, obtain South Korean citizenship, and then remarry Vietnamese men.
Mar. 22
●Additional military surgeons, public health doctors to be deployed: PM (The Korea Herald)
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the government will deploy additional military surgeons and public health doctors to help cope with the prolonged walkout by junior doctors.●Yoon's med school quota hike plan raises fears regarding brain drain from sciences (The Korea Times)
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration's plan to raise the number of medical students is stoking fears that an increasing number of top students may turn away from science and engineering-based courses and instead flock to medical schools.●Med professors to limit work hours in protest against govt's decision (The Chosun Daily)
In response to the government's increased medical school admission quotas, professors from 39 South Korean medical schools are set to limit their work hours to 52 hours per week and reduce outpatient care.●Government calls on retired doctors to fill medical void (Korea JoongAng Daily)
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the government will source additional medical personnel by "hiring retired senior doctors and deploying military doctors."●Doctors split over allocation plan (The Korea Herald)
The Korean government's plan to distribute the 2,000 new medical school places across the country appears to have split doctors, who have generally held a united front in opposing the expansion.●Med professors to cut back patient care as gov't begins suspending trainee doctors' licenses (The Hankyoreh)
The South Korean government is expected to suspend the medical licenses of residents and interns who have abandoned their posts as early as Tuesday.