A poll carried out by the culture ministry showed Thursday that more than 70 percent of South Koreans support the government’s plan to raise the number of medical school seats by 2,000, amid the prolonged walkout by junior doctors protesting the reform.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released the results ahead of an appellate court in Seoul’s announcement on the decision on the medical reform plan scheduled for later in the day. The poll was carried out from Tuesday to Wednesday on 1,000 respondents aged 18 and above.

The poll showed that 72.4 percent of South Koreans supported the medical school quota hike, with 26.1 percent stressing that the reform is “strongly needed.”

The prolonged walkouts by some 12,000 trainee doctors, who have left their worksites since Feb. 20 in protest of the government’s plan to raise the number of seats by 2,000 have caused disruptions in public health services at major hospitals.

Medical professors, who are senior doctors at hospitals, also joined the move by s
ubmitting resignations or taking a weekly day off.

The poll showed that 78.7 percent of respondents do not agree with the collective action by medical professors.

Additionally, 71.8 percent said they do not support the doctors’ boycott of a presidential committee launched last month to seek a resolution amid the deadlock.

Regarding the medical community’s call for fully scrapping the reform plan, 57.8 percent of respondents said they do not agree, while 36.7 percent expressed support.

The poll added that 55.7 percent of South Koreans believe the licenses of junior doctors on the walkout should be suspended under the principle and the law..

Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court is set to rule on an injunction filed by the medical community to halt the medical reform plan later in the day. If the court rejects the request, it will clear the way for the government to proceed with the medical reform.

Source: Yonhap News Agency