Tomorrow's Medical Sector Strike... "Strike Reports So Far at 24.7% Scale"

Advance Closure Reports: 8,365 out of 33,836 Locations

On the 13th, one day before the medical community's collective strike, a notice of closure is posted on a building densely packed with hospitals in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Bong-ju] As the Korea Medical Association has announced a collective strike for tomorrow, the scale of medical institutions nationwide, including local clinics, reporting closures stands at 24.7%.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated on the 13th, "Among 33,836 nationwide clinic-level medical institutions, 8,365 (24.7%) have reported prior closures," adding, "Considering the vacation season, the closure rate on the 14th is expected to be even higher." However, it was confirmed that none of the hospital-level institutions reported closures.

As of 2 PM the previous day, out of 33,031 medical institutions, 7,039 (21.3%) had reported closures, marking a 3.4 percentage point increase in one day. The reason for the lower total number of medical institutions in the previous survey was due to missing data from some cities and provinces.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said that since it is vacation season, it is necessary to accurately distinguish whether closures are due to strikes or vacations, so it will take time until the final tally is completed. They are also examining the possibility of disruptions to actual medical care.

The KMA has defined the government's policies on expanding medical school quotas, establishing public medical schools, including herbal medicine patches in insurance coverage, and promoting non-face-to-face medical care as the "four major evil medical policies," and has decided to hold a collective strike on the 14th, demanding the withdrawal of these policies.

However, doctors involved in life-critical duties such as emergency rooms, intensive care units, dialysis rooms, and delivery rooms will be exempt from this collective strike.

The government has arranged for local public health centers to issue work commencement orders if many medical institutions close and disruptions to patient care or treatment are expected.

According to the Medical Service Act, the Minister of Health and Welfare, provincial governors, mayors, county governors, and district heads can issue work commencement orders to medical personnel who stop treatment without justifiable reasons or to medical institution operators who collectively close, causing significant disruption to patient care. Medical institutions violating this administrative order face a 15-day suspension of operations, and medical personnel may be subject to imprisonment for up to three years or fines up to 30 million won.