South Korean authorities on Friday imposed a leave ban on medical students at more than 200 teaching hospitals, a response to protests by medics against a decision to increase the number of trainees.
The country’s health ministry sent directives to 221 teaching hospitals ordering them to ban mass layoffs and retain key medical staff, according to Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency.
The actions followed the trainee doctors’ decision on Monday to submit “collective resignations” to protest the South Korean government’s proposed increase in the number of medical students.
Deputy Health Minister Park Min Soo insisted that the government to “protect the lives and health of the people by mobilising all necessary resources.”
The South Korean government is concerned about a possible mass strike among doctors in response to an increase in the quota for medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 places next year, up from the current 3,058.
The Health Ministry also said that as of midnight Thursday, more than 150 doctors from seven hospitals had tendered their resignations.
