South Korea abandons plan to suspend licenses of striking doctors to resolve medical impasse

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government has announced it will abandon its plan to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors to resolve the country’s long medical impasse. Health Minister Cho KyooHong said Monday the government has decided not to suspend the licenses of the strikers regardless of whether they return to their hospitals or not. More than 13,000 medical interns and residents walked off their jobs in February to protest the government’s plan to sharply boost medical school admissions. Their walkout has significantly burdened operations of university hospitals where they were training. A Seoul court in May ruled in support of the government’s plan.