Why South Korea’s doctors went on strike

Two-thirds of South Korea’s junior doctors walked out last week in protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions. Government officials are now threatening doctors with prosecutions and medical licence removal if they don’t come back to work by Thursday. The problem to solve: South Korea has a rapidly ageing population combined with a very low doctor-to-patient ratio for a developed country. The government’s proposed solution is to increase medical school admissions from 3,000 to 5,000 for 2025. But the nearly 9,000 striking doctors say boosting places won’t fix chronic shortages in low-paid disciplines; and that their pay and working conditions should take priority over physician numbers. Critics suspect the potential for greater competition for doctors in higher-paid specialisms is also in play. South Korean specialist doctors are some of the best paid in the world.