Articles by Park Jun-hee
Park Jun-hee
junheee@heraldcorp.com-
Court's ruling set to shape path of medical school expansion
The Korean government's plan to increase the number of medical students starting next year will soon take shape as the Seoul High Court is expected to deliver its decision this week on the medical circle's request to suspend the implementation of the planned medical student quota hike. If the court rejects the appeal filed by medical professors, students and junior doctors against the government's hike in the medical school quota in 32 medical schools, the government will likely a
Social Affairs May 12, 2024
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Yoon apologizes for first lady Dior bag scandal, calls push for special probe ‘political’
President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized Thursday for first lady Kim Keon Hee’s alleged acceptance of a Dior bag as a gift, while dismissing the continued calls for a special probe into the controversy as a political attack by the opposition. In a press conference marking his two years in office, the president said he “offers a deep apology to the South Korean people for causing concern due to (his) wife’s unwise conduct.” In undercover camera footage released last year on a Yo
Politics May 9, 2024
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S. Korea to let doctors with foreign licenses practice
The Health Ministry said Wednesday that it would allow those holding foreign medical licenses to practice medicine in South Korea to help cope with a health care crisis exacerbated by a walkout by junior doctors. The ministry said it would make revisions to the enforcement regulation of the Medical Service Act, adding “medical support” to the list of tasks that foreign medical license holders can perform to address the shortage of medical personnel in the event of a medical disaster
Social Affairs May 8, 2024
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Young Korean doctors seek plan B: cosmetic dermatology or overseas
Amid an intensifying medical standoff between the government and the medical community over a plan to increase the medical student quota starting next year, some young Korean medical residents are contemplating switching their tracks to cosmetic dermatology or pursuing their careers overseas. A junior doctor majoring in the essential medical field, who wished to be unnamed, told The Korea Herald that he recently attended a conference on skin care and plastic surgery hosted by the Korean Academy
Social Affairs May 8, 2024
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
More than 590 resident doctors who left their hospitals in protest of the government’s medical school quota expansion have returned, the Health Ministry said Friday, without providing the names of the hospitals, citing the possibility of future disadvantages from the medical circle. Currently, a little more than 590 out of 9,900 resident doctors, or six percent of the total, have returned to their training hospitals as of Thursday, the ministry explained. Second Vice Health Minister Park M
Social Affairs May 3, 2024
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
Some medical professors at the country’s three major hospitals, Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital and Korea University Hospital, suspended surgeries and outpatient clinics on Tuesday for one day, as previously announced, to protest the government’s plan to expand the number of new medical students by 2,000 a year. The main hall at SNUH’s Cancer Hospital was without medical staff Tuesday, while a number of patients wandered around the ward, having just learn
Social Affairs April 30, 2024
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
The Korean government said Monday it would deploy additional medical personnel to maintain health care services as medical professors are due to resign or take weekly breaks starting this week. During Monday’s government response meeting, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said the government would mobilize “all possible measures” to support the emergency medical system by dispatching more health care staff, such as public health doctors or military medical doctors, so that patients
Social Affairs April 29, 2024
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
Medical schools that have been allocated additional seats anticipate opening a minimum of 1,500 new slots for the upcoming year, as they are set to make final decisions on their admissions availability following the government’s decision to grant flexibility in the quota allocation. The government earlier said it would allow medical schools to freely adjust new seats within a 50 to 100 percent range of the enrollment quota given to them for the 2025 academic year. It announced in February
Social Affairs April 28, 2024
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
A pan-national consultative group was launched Thursday to open a dialogue for South Korea’s medical reform but without doctors attending as they protest the government’s plan to expand the medical student quota by 2,000. The chair of the special presidential committee Noh Yun-hong who heads the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, said the newly launched group will focus on long-term tasks such as improving working conditions for junior doctors and physicia
Social Affairs April 25, 2024
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
Amid an intensifying standoff between doctors and the government, professors at Seoul National University Hospital, said Wednesday they would suspend treatments for one day on April 30, with some in leadership roles saying they would resign on May 1. Stressing that the decision was made as a last resort, the professors said they also needed time off to recover from months of filling in for junior doctors who walked out to protest plans to expand medical schools. They said they would inform their
Social Affairs April 24, 2024
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Tension soars as medical professors mull partial strike
Patients in life and limb care are again left to deal with the fallout of the protracted medical standoff as resignations by medical professors due to take effect from Thursday. Concerns over the health care system are also growing as professors were considering reducing work hours and the number of surgeries in a show of protest. Medical professors at eight hospitals affiliated with the Catholic University of Korea’s medical school said Tuesday afternoon that they will submit their resig
Social Affairs April 23, 2024
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
South Korea entered another round of medical standoff as doctors refused to accept a government proposal to allow medical schools to reduce their enrollment quotas for next year, or join a presidential committee on medical reform. In response, the Health Ministry has stated that its stance remains unchanged regarding the scrapping of the plan to expand the annual medical student admissions quota by 2,000. The government made a bold step last week with a new proposal that gives temporary flexibil
Social Affairs April 22, 2024
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
Taking a step back from pushing its medical reform plan, the Korean government said on Friday that it would allow medical schools with additional spots to adjust the number of new medical students freely in an attempt to break the standoff with the medical circle. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during Friday’s press briefing that 32 colleges subject to the increase will be allowed to freely adjust the number of new medical students within a 50 to 100 percent range of the enrollment quota
Social Affairs April 19, 2024
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
The Korean government on Thursday broke its silence on its medical student quota expansion plan after over a week of maintaining a low profile following the ruling party's major election defeat, stoking hopes that it could possibly end the monthslong tug-of-war with the medical circle. The government announced plans to resume Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings involving officials from related ministries and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, as well as to brief repo
Social Affairs April 18, 2024
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Ministry to hire retired doctors to fill medical void
The Health Ministry on Wednesday started recruiting retired or soon-to-retire physicians to address rural healthcare deserts and essential medical fields as the junior doctors’ mass resignation entered its ninth week. The ministry on Tuesday afternoon opened a center for senior doctors at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, central Seoul, to entice senior doctors nearing retirement or inactive physicians with experience working in university hospitals to extend their years of service i
Social Affairs April 17, 2024
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