South Korea's rival political parties on Friday united in a rare display of bipartisan cooperation to form a four-party consultative body with the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the medical community, aiming to jump-start negotiations over the medical school enrollment hike, which have been at the root of health care disruptions since February. People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon proposed the formation of a four-way consultative body, bringing together the Yoon government, ruling and o

Politics Sept. 6, 2024

The award ceremony for the 53rd Korea Herald English Speech Contest was held on Thursday at the Australian Embassy in Seoul on Friday. This year's contest, themed "My dream, Earth and the 10th Anniversary of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement," focused on the environment and economy. A total of 34 winners were recognized for their outstanding speeches. In attendance were Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Jeff Robinson, Deputy Head of Mission Martin Walker, Heral

Social Affairs Sept. 6, 2024

More emergency departments are suspending nighttime operations or providing services during the upcoming Chuseok holiday due to severe workforce shortages, despite efforts to recruit additional staff and the deployment of military physicians to mitigate disruptions. Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, notified patients that it would only admit patients needing around-the-clock cardiopulmonary resuscitation or those in severe conditions from 7 a.m. every Thursday to 7 a.m. the

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2024

Last month, 33-year-old office worker Kim A-young experienced a nightmare when a first responder refused to take her to the emergency room despite her severe stomach pain. "I was informed that ERs at university hospitals wouldn't accept patients with stomach pain, which was later diagnosed as acute appendicitis," she said. "I was taken to a nearby community hospital but couldn't have the surgery immediately. Although the doctor indicated that my case was severe, I had to

Social Affairs Sept. 3, 2024

South Korea will raise medical service fees for essential procedures and surgeries and reduce large hospitals' dependence on junior doctors as part of a medical reform package introduced amid a prolonged medical confrontation between the government and doctors over the quota expansion of medical schools. Noh Yun-hong, who chairs the presidential special committee on medical reform, said Friday that the government would push forward in creating "physician-centered hospitals" nationwide

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2024

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold an event on Saturday to celebrate the third anniversary of its free online lecture platform for students here and unveil the program's new identity, officials said Friday. Dubbed "Seoul Learn," the program, launched in August 2021, offers free online lectures to underprivileged students to bridge the achievement gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It has also provided high-quality education without students hav

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2024

Unionized hospital workers pulled out from their planned strike Thursday after reaching an agreement on pay raises and better working conditions with hospitals, withdrawing from a decision that could have caused potential chaos at understaffed hospitals already suffering from junior doctors' collective walkouts in February. The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union -- which has some 30,000 nurses, caregivers and other medical workers as members -- said Thursday that health care work

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2024

Seven months into South Korea's medical sector standoff, fatigue and backlogs of patients are hammering emergency departments nationwide as emergency medicine physicians are reeling from the mass walkout of medical interns and residents in February, with some deciding to leave their jobs for good. Seven out of 14 ER doctors at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, have tendered their resignations, putting the emergency unit under immense pressure as it grapples with personne

Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2024

Amid a prolonged medical standoff, concerns are again looming large as more than 22,000 unionized hospital workers plan to strike beginning Thursday if the ongoing arbitration by the labor relations committee fails to reach an agreement on a pay raise and the normalization of hospital operations. The planned walkout comes after 91 percent of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union -- which has some 30,000 nurses, caregivers and other medical workers at 61 hospitals as members -- vote

Social Affairs Aug. 27, 2024

A Seoul court has ordered a local hospital to pay 423 million won ($319,993) to the family of a US national who died from a pulmonary embolism shortly after a hip replacement surgery in 2019, legal sources said Monday. The Seoul Central District Court recently delivered the ruling nearly five years after the bereaved family filed a damages suit against the hospital for negligence that resulted in death. The incident happened in August 2019 when the man, who was a 59-year-old American civilian em

Social Affairs Aug. 26, 2024

Funerals for the victims of Thursday‘s Bucheon hotel fire were held on Sunday, but the controversy surrounding the tragedy has intensified while authorities have been searching to identify the circumstances that led to seven deaths and a dozen other injuries. Amid the ongoing efforts to determine the exact cause of the fire, a debate about the inflatable rescue mattress used by firefighters erupted, as two of the seven people died attempting to jump onto it. Soon after the blaze broke out,

Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2024

Suga of BTS not showing up for his first round of police questioning Thursday reignited debates over whether high-profile figures are unfairly targeted by being made to face the media on the photo line when they are under investigation. The star of the mega-hit K-pop group faces accusations of driving an electric scooter under the influence earlier this month. Reports initially indicated that he would appear for questioning at Yongsan Police Station for the first time on Thursday, drawing dozens

Social Affairs Aug. 22, 2024

South Korea's health system, which for years worked to shield the nation from the deadly threat of COVID-19, finds itself under renewed pressure from a virus resurgence amid the prolonged standoff between medical professionals and the government, putting its capacity to the test. The virus is likely to peak later this month at a time when the country's health care has for six months been stretched beyond its capacity, after intern and resident doctors resigned en masse in mid-February

Social Affairs Aug. 21, 2024

Starting Wednesday, South Korean health authorities will classify mpox as an infectious disease subject to border screening and require passengers flying from eight African nations with mpox symptoms to report to officials, health authorities here said Tuesday afternoon. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the decision comes after the World Health Organization declared mpox a "public health emergency of international concern" last week. Under the strengthened surveilla

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

Women with depression between the ages of 40 and 60 are twice as likely to develop young-onset dementia, largely driven by declining estrogen levels and female sex hormones as they experience menopause, a recent study showed Tuesday. Young-onset dementia is when a person develops any form of dementia before the age of 65. The likelihood of developing dementia at an early stage was 2.5 to 2.7 times higher for women in their middle adulthood diagnosed with depression when compared to their peers w

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024