Articles by Park Jun-hee
Park Jun-hee
junheee@heraldcorp.com-
What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
The Seoul High Court's critical ruling Thursday dismissing doctors groups' request for an injunction to halt the nationwide medical school expansion, has cleared the path for the first increase in medical student admissions in 27 years. With the hurdle removed, the government vowed Friday to expedite the remaining procedures for the 2025 school year college admissions, such as reflecting the changes in each university's college admissions and gaining approval for the plans by the
Social Affairs May 17, 2024
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
A South Korean appellate court on Thursday rejected an injunction sought by the medical community to halt the implementation of a planned student quota increase at medical schools nationwide. With the obstacles now cleared, the Seoul High Court's ruling allows the government to proceed with its contentious plan to add 2,000 more admission seats at medical schools nationwide, despite facing vehement opposition from doctors and students. This marks the first medical school quota hike in 27 years s
Social Affairs May 16, 2024
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Seoul weighs establishing first military medical school
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it is mulling the establishment of an inaugural military medical school to secure doctors who would serve in the military for at least 10 years in an effort to improve the military medical system and enhance treatment capabilities. "The Defense Ministry has been actively promoting and reviewing measures aimed at enhancing military medical capabilities, including the recruitment of long-term service military surgeons and the specialization o
Defense May 16, 2024
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
Recent government data revealing that South Korean doctors -- except junior doctors -- now rake in an annual salary of 301 million won ($220,029), nearly five times higher than the country’s average annual salary of 42.14 million won, has rekindled the debate on whether doctors are making too much. Some critics believe high income is the reason why doctors refuse to agree to the government’s plan to increase the student quota for medical schools here, out of fear that the value and p
Social Affairs May 15, 2024
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Ministry, doctors clash over decision process of expansion plan
The government and doctors continued their fight Monday over whether the expansion plan to have 2,000 more students starting next year has been determined through appropriate procedures ahead of a court's ruling set for this week. The medical community lashed out at the document presented by the government, claiming it shows the decision was made "arbitrarily without logical justification." The document showed that Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong proposed having 2,000 more medical s
Social Affairs May 13, 2024
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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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