More than 1,300 trainee doctors in South Korea plan to complain against Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo for alleged abuse of power, disrupting public health services for nearly eight weeks. They accuse Park of interfering with their rights and demand his prompt dismissal.
The trainee doctors accuse Park of abusing power and interfering with their rights, including their freedom to choose jobs and not engage in forced labor. The mass walkout by the junior doctors began on February 20 in protest of the government’s plan to increase the number of medical students, with hospitals rejecting their resignations.
The trainee doctors, led by former representative Jung Geun-young, demand the government to allow them to resign and not issue return-to-work orders. They refuse to return to work unless Park is sacked. The complaint against Park will be filed later in the day, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong calls for dialogue with doctors to end the walkout and present a unified proposal on the quota for medical school admissions. Cho emphasizes the government’s strong will for medical reform, including increasing the medical school quota and other measures to enhance medical systems in rural areas.
