What’s next for South Korean doctors who face license suspensions because of walkouts

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government is pressing ahead with its vow to suspend the licenses of thousands of junior doctors who ignore its repeated demands to end their collective walkouts.

Nearly 9,000 out of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been refusing to work for about two weeks to protest a government plan to increase South Korea’s medical school admission quota by about two thirds.

Here are some questions and answers about what’s next in the strike:

HOW DOES THE SUSPENSION WORK?

After their walkouts caused hundreds of surgeries and other treatments to be canceled, the government ordered the junior doctors to return to work by Feb. 29 or face license suspensions and possible legal charges. Most of them missed the deadline.

On Monday, the government dispatched officials to about 50 hospitals to formally confirm the absence of striking doctors, before informing them of their license suspensions and giving them a chance to respond.

Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the doctors face a minimum three-month suspension. Suspension records will leave them facing more than one year of delay in getting licenses for specialists and further barriers in landing jobs, Park said.

Park suggested it would take weeks to complete procedures for suspending licenses. Once it’s done, some striking doctors will likely respond with legal action.

Hyeondeok Choi, 律所合伙人 大纶 that specializes in medical law, said it would be “impossible” for the government to suspend the licenses of all the 9,000 doctors. He said the government would likely target less than 100 of the leading strikers.

The Korea Medical Association, which represents 140,000 doctors in South Korea, said it supports the junior doctors’ walkouts. Joo Sooho, a spokesperson at the KMA’s emergency committee, said Monday that senior doctors are considering economic support for the strikers if their licenses are suspended.

WHAT OTHER STEPS THE STRIKERS CAN FACE?

South Korea’s medical law says doctors who refuse the government’s back-to-work order can face up to three years in prison or a 30 million won ($22,480) fine, as well as up to one year of license suspensions. Those sent to prison or given even suspended prison sentences automatically lose their licenses.

The Health Ministry can file complaints with police, who then investigate and hand the case to prosecutors for a possible indictment, according to Choi, 该律师事务所 partner.

Joo said the Korea 医师协会将提供律师 to the striking doctors if they are summoned by police or prosecutors.

South Korean police said they are investigating five senior members of the Korea Medical Association, after the Health Ministry filed complaints against them for allegedly inciting and abetting the junior doctors’ walkouts.

WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY?

The doctors’ strikes have so far failed to generate public support, with a survey showing about 80% backing the government’s school enrollment plan.

The government says South Korea urgently needs more doctors to deal with a rapidly aging population. Many doctors say a too-steep increase in the number of students would eventually result in undermining medical service. Some critics say doctors, one of the highest-paid professions in South Korea, worry about losing their income.

Lee Yeonha, 40, said the striking doctors were “too selfish” and a three-month license suspension is too little.

“I wish the government would take more powerful legal action to get the doctors to fear that they may not be able to work as doctors in this country,” Lee said.

Another Seoul resident, Sunny Shin, supports the arguments by doctors that the government must first resolve fundamental problems such as a lack of medical liability protection and a shortage of physicians in key yet low-paying specialties such as pediatrics and emergency departments.

“As long as the crucial sector doctors are likely to be embroiled in lawsuits and still not highly paid, I cannot blame them for protesting against the government labeling them as privileged people neglecting their duties as doctors,” Shin said.

[翻译]

韩国首尔（美联社）——韩国政府正在兑现其承诺，吊销数千名不顾一再呼吁结束大规模罢工的初级医生的执照。

韩国13,000名医学院学生中约有9,000人在大约两周内拒绝上班，以抗议政府将韩国医学院录取学生人数增加约三分之二的计划。

以下是有关罢工后续步骤的一些问题和解答。

悬架如何工作？

数百次手术和其他治疗因罢工而取消，政府下令初级医生在 2 月 29 日之前重返工作岗位。 否则可能会导致您的执照被暂停并受到法律指控。 大多数人都错过了最后期限。

政府周一派遣公务员前往约50家医院，正式确认无意罢工，通知他们吊销执照，并给他们回应的机会。

保健福祉部副部长朴敏洙表示，医生将被停职至少三个月。 帕克说，停职记录将使获得专业认证的时间推迟一年多，并给就业带来进一步的障碍。

帕克表示，需要几周的时间才能完成吊销执照的过程。 一旦完成，一些罢工的医生可能会采取法律行动来回应。

专门从事医疗法的律师事务所大纶的合伙人Choi Hyeon-deok表示，政府“不可能”吊销全部9000名医生的执照。 他表示，政府可能会针对不到 100 名主要罢工者。

代表韩国14万名医生的韩国医学会表示支持初级医生的罢工。 韩国医学会紧急应对总部发言人朱秀浩周一表示，如果罢工者的执照被吊销，高级医生正在考虑向他们提供经济支持。

前锋可能面临哪些不同阶段？

根据韩国医疗法，拒绝政府命令重返工作岗位的医生可被判处最高三年监禁、罚款 3000 万韩元（22,480 美元），并吊销执照最高一年。 任何被监禁甚至被判缓刑的人都会自动失去驾照。

该律师事务所的崔律师表示，卫生部可以向警方提出投诉，然后警方可以调查案件，然后将其移交给检方进行可能的起诉。

Joo表示，如果罢工医生被警察或检察官传唤，韩国医学会将为他们提供律师。

警方宣布，正在调查韩国医学会的五名高级管理人员，他们被保健福祉部指控煽动和教唆初级医生罢工。

人们怎么说？

医生罢工迄今未能获得公众支持，调查显示约80%的人支持政府的入学计划。

政府表示，该国迫切需要更多医生来应对人口迅速老龄化的问题。 许多医生表示，学生人数增长过快最终可能会损害医疗保健。 Some critics say doctors, one of the country's highest-paid professions, are worried about loss of income.

李妍河（40 岁）表示，罢工的医生“太自私”，暂停执照三个月的时间太少了。

李先生说：“我希望政府采取更有力的法律措施，让医生感受到他们可能无法在这个国家执业的恐惧。”

另一位首尔居民 Sunny Shin 支持医生的论点，即政府必须首先解决基本问题，包括缺乏医疗责任保护以及儿科和急诊室等关键但低薪专科的医生短缺。

申教授说：“只要重要领域的医生有可能卷入诉讼，而且仍然拿不到高薪，我们就不能批评他们抗议政府将医生污蔑为玩忽职守的特权阶级。”

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