South Korea Doctor Walkout Nears Second Week With Yoon Unbowed
- President Yoon says nation needs 15,000 doctors by 2035
- Standoff comes ahead of parliamentary elections in April
Demonstrators march during a protest against a government plan to increase the number of seats at medical schools in Seoul on Feb. 25.
Photographer: Jean Chung/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A widespread walkout by South Korean trainee doctors is heading toward its second week with no sign that the government, which says the country urgently needs to boost the number of physicians, will back down from its plan.
Creating an additional 2,000 slots for medical schools remains a necessity, Sung Taeyoon, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s director of national policy, said at a briefing Sunday. Yoon’s plan is part of an effort to alleviate a doctor shortage that ranks the nation near the bottom of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members.