South Korea has started deploying the military to cope with the mass strike of 12,000 doctors in the country. According to a Reuters report military physicians and doctors from public health centres will start working from strike-hit hospitals on Monday.
The number of military physicians called on to help so far have been roughly 2,400, according to a Defence ministry briefing.
According to a Yonhap news agency report, South Korea’s Health Minister Cho Kyoo-Hong said at a meeting on Sunday that cases of bullying by the striking doctors have hampered doctors have wanted to go back to work.
“It is completely unacceptable to attack people who are working day and night in the field and coerce them to participate in the collective action,” Cho Kyoo-hong told a government response meeting.
“We will thoroughly investigate it and take strict action.”
Nearly 10,000 South Korean junior doctors have resigned in an act of protest against the government’s new plan to recruit more medical students, leading to treatment cancellations and delays in hospitals. This is roughly 10% of all doctors in the country.
The strike has been going on for three weeks now, having first begun since February 20.
According to AP the strike is in protest of the government’s decision to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 doctors next year.
The doctors have argued that the government’s bid to increase the number of doctors does not solve the larger problem of poor working conditions and low wages.
Healthcare has been badly affected in the country, with emergency services badly affected and appointments scaled back.
The government has been contemplating legal action and even threatened to remove the medical licences of the striking doctors in the last week according to Reuters.
Public sentiment is not on the side of the striking doctors A survey published last week, by the Yonhap news agency found 84% of respondents supported adding more doctors, while 43% said striking physicians should be sternly punished.
Neither side has however, shown any sign of backing down so far.
