South Korea Launches Hotline for Doctors Facing Harassment, Peer Pressure for Not Joining Walkout

South Korea's health minister said on Tuesday, March 12, that the government-operated doctor hotline was set up to assist doctors who were subjected to intimidation or peer pressure for their decision not to participate in a nationwide healthcare reform strike.

In response to a major demand from the about 12,000 trainees who have abandoned their positions, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong justified the reforms as advantageous for interns and residents' working conditions.

One of the potential plans is to increase the number of medical school students.

Doctors carry a banner reading "Doctors are not criminals!" as they march toward the Presidential Office in Seoul on February 25, 2024, during a rally to protest the government's plan to raise the annual enrolment quota at medical schools. (Photo: JUNG YEON-JE / AFP via Getty Images)

Accusation of Harrasment

According to Reuters, Cho claimed that a number of young physicians had been intimidating trainees who had opted out of the strike or were planning to go back to work.

In an official meeting, he stated, "The government will take care so that trainee doctors can return to work and remain by the patients without worry," alluded to the hotline.

The three-week walkout shows no signs of ending, and several medical academics have pledged to quit in solidarity with the strike.

Cho said that as of Monday, 5,556 physicians who had resigned were given early warning stating that their medical licenses would be suspended if they did not provide a reason for their resignation.

South Korea's major healthcare crisis has prompted the government to deploy military physicians and public health center doctors to strike-hit hospitals to mitigate patient care.

Last weekend, Cho ordered the deployment of 20 military surgeons and 138 public health physicians to hospitals for four weeks.

Medical Reform Program

An increase in yearly medical school admissions of 2,000 students, set to take effect in 2025, has prompted doctors involved in the issue to express their strong opposition.

They argued that the move would negatively impact the quality of medical education while doing nothing to enhance doctors' salaries or working conditions.

Government officials have said that raising salaries for physicians practicing critical care and expanding access to quality healthcare in rural areas are two goals of their reform program.

Many people believe that more physicians should be hired, but others think that President Yoon Suk Yeol is trying to utilize the medical reforms controversy to further his political career in the run-up to the April legislative elections.