KIHASA Update
Window on Korean Society: June 15-21
- Date 2024-06-17
- Hits 156
June 15
●More doctors decide not to join planned strike by community doctors next week (The Korea Times)
A growing number of doctors have decided not to join a planned strike by community doctors next week, according to the doctors' groups Friday, saying that they would not put patients at more risk.
June 16
●SNU hospital professors set to stage indefinite strike from Monday (Korea JoongAng Daily)
More than half of medical professors at four hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) will stage an indefinite strike starting Monday, with the number of surgeries they perform expected to drop by nearly 50 percent.●Doctors to go on indefinite walkout as government rejects final demands (The Korea Herald)
The government on Sunday rejected the doctors' final proposal to abandon plans to increase medical school enrollment quotas, stating that it does not consider it appropriate for doctors to make such a demand.●Ruling party, gov't agree to provide energy vouchers to 1.3 million households this summer (The Korea Times)
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and government officials on Sunday agreed to provide energy vouchers to 1.3 million vulnerable households as the country braces for a hotter-than-average summer.●Korea to begin dialogue over four-day workweek (The Korea Times)
Discussions between the government, employers and employees will start this week to improve the balance between work and life and add more flexibility to the country's 52-hour workweek.●UN Women, British chamber collaborate to foster gender-inclusive workplace in Korea (The Korea Times)
The United Nations Women and the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) are ramping up cooperation to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in the private sector, according to the U.N. Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in Seoul, Friday.●Korea rolls out measures to fight suicide among teenagers, young adults (The Korea Times)
Korea has rolled out several comprehensive suicide prevention measures to help curb the country's high suicide rate, the government said Friday.●Looming all-out strike by doctors heightens tensions (The Korea Times)
Medical professors, as well as doctors at neighborhood clinics, plan to stage a collective walkout this week.
June 17
●SNU medical professors set to launch indefinite walkout (The Korea Times)
Medical professors at hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) were set to launch an indefinite walkout on Monday, with about 55 percent of the professors expected to join the move against the government's medical reform.●S. Korean medical professors set for indefinite strike, gov't warns of firm measures (The Chosun Daily)
More than half of the clinical professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital are set to join an indefinite strike, prompting the South Korean government to consider firm measures.●Patients' group slams doctors as SNUH professors begin indefinite strike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
A nationwide patients' group is urging doctors to remain on the job as a strike by medical professors at hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) sparks fear of delayed treatments.●Seoul's population falls, gets more diverse (The Korea Herald)
Seoul's total population over the first quarter of 2024 dropped to 9.38 million, a 6.4 percent decline from the total population 20 years ago, 10.2 million, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday.●Over 500 teaching physicians halt treatments at SNU hospitals starting Monday (The Hankyoreh)
Over 500 physicians appeared poised to take part in a collective walkout at Seoul National University-affiliated hospitals that was scheduled to start Monday.●As some doctors plan indefinite walkout, others say they're putting patients' lives on the line (The Hankyoreh)
"A collective resignation or leave of absence is basically a death sentence for patients in critical condition."
June 18
●Single men in Korea outnumber single women by 19.6 percent: Report (Korea JoongAng Daily)
There are nearly 20 percent more single men than single women in Korea, according to a Monday report from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), matching a historical preference for sons.●S. Korea to compensate those taking up duty of child-rearing coworkers (The Korea Herald)
South Korea's Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to reward employees taking up the duties of coworkers who work reduced hours for child care with government subsidies.●Korea's largest doctors' group begins full-scale strike despite warnings (The Korea Herald)
The largest coalition of neighborhood doctors in South Korea launched a full-scale, one-day strike on Tuesday, with some members suspending medical services despite the government's return-to-work order and threat to disband the organization.●S. Korea has far more unmarried men than women: study (The Korea Herald)
As South Korea faces a falling marriage rate, a recent government study showed that the unmarried male population her outnumbers its female counterparts by nearly 20 percent.●Govt. orders some striking community doctors to return to work (The Korea Herald)
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday the government ordered community doctors who joined a one-day walkout to return to work, warning that they would face legal punishment unless they comply with the order.●Concerns grow over lack of clarity in work scope for caregivers from Philippines (The Korea Times)
Concerns are growing over the lack of clarity in the job description for caregivers from the Philippines who will start working at households in Seoul as early as September for Korea's pilot project.●Number of dual-income households hits record high in 2023 (The Korea Times)
Nearly half of married couples in Korea had dual incomes last year and their proportion out of all married couples reached an all-time high, data showed Tuesday.●Demographic gender gap in Korea's unmarried population widens (The Korea Times)
Korea's gender imbalance among the unmarried population has widened significantly, with unmarried men outnumbering unmarried women by nearly 20 percent.●Yoon vows to do everything to ensure junior doctors, students continue training (The Korea Times)
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday called on junior doctors and medical students protesting the government's medical reform to return to work and continue their studies, saying the government will provide the necessary support.●KMA declares indefinite strike from June 27, demands gov't not treat them 'like slaves' (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The nation's largest doctors' group, the Korean Medical Association (KMA), declared on Tuesday that doctors would go on an indefinite strike starting June 27, ignoring a presidential warning against collective action.●[From the scene] Patients left stranded as local clinics shut down (The Korea Herald)
Choi Jung-hwa, a woman in her 30s, discovered a notice of service suspension Tuesday at the internal medicine clinic she regularly visited in Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, for heartburn treatment.
June 19
●Doctors to discuss next steps against govt. following one-day strike (The Korea Herald)
Major groups of doctors and medical professors will gather Wednesday to discuss what to do next against the government's medical reform plan after threatening to launch an indefinite strike next week, officials said.●Yoon declares 'demographic emergency' in Korea as birthrate fall continues (Korea JoongAng Daily)
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a "national demographic emergency" Wednesday, pledging to make every effort to overcome Korea's low birthrate crisis.●Will striking doctors go the distance? (The Korea Herald)
Observers expressed skepticism on Wednesday about the likelihood of doctors being able to sustain their current walkout indefinitely, citing the financial strain on those who run their own clinics and thelogistical challenges of rescheduling treatments.●Yoon declares 'demographic national emergency,' vows all-out efforts to tackle low birthrate (The Korea Times)
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared Wednesday that Korea is in a "demographic national emergency" due to its declining population, vowing to make all-out efforts to tackle the country's ultralow birthrate.
June 20
●Gov't welcomes Supreme Court's dismissal of injunction appeal from doctors' groups (Korea JoongAng Daily)
The government on Thursday welcomed a Supreme Court decision that rejected the medical community's injuction appeal, seemingly concluding the legal debate over admissions quota hikes in medical schools.●Doctors launch pan-alliance committee (The Korea Herald)
South Korean doctors launched a pan-alliance committee comprised of medical professors, junior doctors, students, and community doctors Thursday, seeking to take unified action against the government's plan to expand medical school quotas.●Korea declares 'national emergency' over birth rates, but offers few new solutions (The Hankyoreh)
South Korea's president declared a "national emergency" on Wednesday regarding the country's plummeting birth rates and shrinking population, vowing to "mobilize all response systems until the crisis is resolved."●Gov't promises integrated management of foreign workforce (The Korea Times)
To improve the predictability of foreign workforce supply and demand and to develop tailored human resource policies, the government will revamp its outlook for foreign workers by industry around the competent ministries.●164 deadbeat parents hit with int'l travel bans, other penalties for not paying child support (The Korea Times)
The government has imposed international travel bans or other penalties on 164 parents for refusing to pay child support expenses to the respective custodial parents after divorce.●Patients' group asks gov't to consider early introduction of foreign-licensed doctors (The Korea Times)
The Korea Severe Disease Association, one of the major patients' groups in Korea, has asked the health ministry to hold a public hearing on the introduction of doctors holding licenses issued in foreign nations, in response to the protracted government-doctor standoff resulting in significant disruptions to medical services.
June 21
●SNU medical professors to end walkout at 4 hospitals (Korea JoongAng Daily)
Medical professors working at hospitals of Seoul National University (SNU) decided on Friday to halt their indefinite strike and return to their patients.