South Korea orders doctors who joined protracted strike over medical school plan to return to work

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials issued return-to-work orders for doctors participating in a one-day walkout as part of a protracted strike against a government plan to sharply boost medical school admissions. Since February, more than 12,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in a deepening standoff with government officials, who want to grow the country’s number of doctors by up to 10,000 by 2035. According to South Korea’s health ministry, about 4% of the country’s 36,000 private clinics said they would participate in a one-day strike Tuesday. This comes a day after hundreds of medical school professors at four major hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University entered an indefinite walkout, raising concerns about disruptions in medical services.