Ministry of Justice Orders Supreme Prosecutors' Office to Strictly Respond to Illegal Collective Actions in the Medical Sector

Order to Maintain Emergency Duty System at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office
Swift Response to Medical Law Violations and Obstruction of Business

The Ministry of Justice on the 19th instructed the prosecution to respond strictly to the collective actions of the medical community opposing the government's increase in medical school admissions.

On the 19th, concerns over a "medical crisis" due to collective opposition from doctors, including the mass resignation of residents from the five major hospitals in Korea in protest against the government's expansion of medical school quotas, were growing. This photo shows a university hospital in downtown Seoul. Some residents in departments such as Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Severance Hospital decided to submit their resignation letters and stop working a day earlier. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Ministry of Justice announced that it instructed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to "maintain an emergency duty system until the illegal collective actions by the medical community end, promptly and strictly handle illegal collective actions such as violations of the Medical Service Act and obstruction of business, and make every effort to minimize inconvenience and damage to the public."

The Ministry of Justice emphasized that it will respond strictly according to the law and principles to illegal collective actions that threaten the lives and health of the public and will closely cooperate with related ministries and agencies.

On the same day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued an order to maintain medical services to residents at 221 training hospitals nationwide under Article 59, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act.