- South Korean police raided the office of Lim Hyung-taek, the next president of the Korean Medical Association, on Friday.
- Police also searched Mr Lim’s residence and seized a mobile phone and other unspecified items.
- Mr Lim’s office criticized the raid as politically motivated.
South Korean police said Friday that they had raided the office of the hard-line incoming leader of a medical association and confiscated his cellphone on suspicion of inciting a long-term strike by thousands of trainee doctors and residents.
This development could further dim the prospects for an early end to the strike. The office of Lim Hyung-taek, who will be sworn in as president of the Korean Medical Association next week, said the raid was politically motivated and questioned whether the government was sincere in its offer of dialogue to end the strike. did.
Police said Friday that they dispatched officers to Mr. Lim’s office in Seoul and residence in the southern city of Asan and seized cellphones and other unspecified items.
South Korea postpones plans to increase admissions to medical schools as doctors’ strike drags on
Im is one of five former or current Korean Medical Association officials under investigation by the police on charges of instigating and abetting the strike. In mid-April, two of them had their medical licenses suspended by health authorities.
On March 3, 2024, a rally was held in Seoul, South Korea by doctors to protest the government’s medical policies. South Korean police said on Friday that they had raided the office of the next president of a hard-line medical association and confiscated his mobile phone. He faces accusations of instigating a prolonged strike by thousands of medical trainees and residents. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, materials)
Mr Lim’s office said in a statement that the police raid was “clear retaliation and political repression” against Mr Lim. The newspaper said that if the government really wanted dialogue, it should not have orchestrated the raid.
More than 10,000 interns and residents at major university hospitals resigned in February in protest of the government’s plan to increase the number of medical school admissions from the current cap of 3,058 to 2,000 starting next year. Their strike has led to numerous cancellations and delays of surgeries and other treatments at hospitals.
In the face of growing public pressure to find a compromise to end the strike, the government last week adjusted its plans by allowing universities to decide whether to reduce next year’s enrollment numbers by up to 50%. It was announced that there is a possibility.This means the number of new medical students hired next year could drop to as little as 1,000.
However, Mr Lim said doctors refused to allow the government to increase the number of students and called for the plan to increase enrollment to be completely scrapped. He also called on the government to remove senior officials involved in developing the admission plan.
Officials said the plan aims to increase the number of doctors in South Korea, which has the world’s fastest aging population and one of the lowest ratios of doctors to population among developed countries. ing.
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Doctors say schools are unprepared to handle the sudden increase in students, which will ultimately undermine the country’s health services. They argue the government’s plan will increase competition for doctors and lead to unnecessary treatment. But critics say these are not the real reasons for the protests, but simply concerns that an increased supply of doctors will mean less income in the future.
South Korea’s current cap on medical student admissions has remained unchanged since 2006, and doctors have blocked previous government attempts with fierce protests.
Concern over the medical gridlock has deepened, with senior doctors at the university hospital where the young striking doctors worked threatening to resign in support of the strike. Their association recently decided to give senior doctors weekly leave due to overwork due to the retirement of junior partners.
At a press conference on Friday, Jun Byung Wan, a senior health ministry official, called the senior doctors’ move “regrettable.” He urged them not to abandon patients, but the government has yet to find any hospital that plans to accept their offer to resign.
