The Korean Medical Association (KMA) may stage a walkout later this month in protest, according to Asian media.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA), the largest doctors’ organisation with more than 129,000 members, may go on strike on June 20 depending on the results of a recent vote, sources said. Over 70,000, or 54.8 percent of KMA members, participated in the vote held over four days from Tuesday, the sources said.
The results of the vote will be announced in a meeting to be held on Sunday. Therefore, the implication is that doctors and professors may go on strike to protest the government’s decision to increase medical school admissions.
The association said Sunday’s meeting would be “the largest collective action in history” with professors, paid doctors and medical practitioners agreeing to act for the same purpose. Sunday’s meeting will also come after doctors at four major hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University decided to strike from 17 June.
The potential doctors’ strike comes after the government finalised its plan to increase medical school admission quotas by about 1,500, the first such increase in 27 years. Thousands of trainee doctors have been out of work since the government announced its plan to increase medical school admission quotas earlier this year.
