SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday called on junior doctors and medical students protesting the government’s medical reform to return to work and resume their studies, saying the government will provide the necessary support.
“Collective action that neglects the suffering and pain of patients, who are your reason for existence, is certainly undesirable both personally and for the state,” he said during a Cabinet meeting. “The government will take all necessary measures so that you can continue your studies and training.”
Yoon warned, however, that the government has “no choice but to handle in strict fairness illegal actions that betray patients,” referring to a series of ongoing walkouts.
Medical professors at Seoul National University hospitals began an indefinite walkout Monday, demanding the government reconsider its increase in next year’s admissions quota for medical schools and withdraw punitive measures against trainee doctors who have remained off the job since February.
The Korean Medical
Association, a major lobby group for doctors, also launched a walkout Tuesday involving community doctors.
“The government will set right the medical services in the regions and in essential fields, and push forward without wavering with medical reforms that fundamentally innovate the entire medical system,” Yoon said.
Yoon instructed the interior ministry and other relevant agencies to quickly draw up measures to cope with earthquakes, after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern county of Buan last week.
He especially called for a stratum survey on a national scale and swift recovery efforts to minimize inconveniences to the affected people.
Noting extreme weather conditions in recent years, Yoon also instructed the government to preemptively and thoroughly prepare against damage from flooding and heat waves, with special attention to residents of landslide-prone areas and semi-basement apartments.
The Cabinet meeting was held two days after Yoon returned from a weeklong trip to Central Asi
a.
He said his visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan helped strengthen South Korea’s strategic partnerships with each nation, with a focus on minerals, energy and infrastructure.
“Going forward, the government will extend support so that more companies and experts in various fields can have active exchanges with Central Asia,” he said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
