"We Will Pay 20 Million Won a Month" Posted Three Times...Not a Single Applicant Shocks County

Seventeen of 27 public health doctors to complete service in April
No applicants for supervising physician even after daily pay raised to 1 million won

Concerns are growing over a looming medical service gap in Hapcheon-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, ahead of a mass departure of public health doctors. The county has posted a recruitment notice for a supervising physician offering a daily wage of 1 million won three times, but it has been confirmed that there are still no actual applicants.

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Quoting an announcement by Hapcheon-gun on the 7th, Yonhap News Agency reported that 17 out of 27 public health doctors currently working in the county (about 63%), including those in medicine, dentistry, and Korean medicine, are scheduled to complete their service in April this year. This means that more than half of the local public healthcare workforce will leave at once.

To minimize disruption to medical services, the county public health center has decided to hire one supervising physician with a general practitioner qualification and is proceeding with the recruitment notice.

Hapcheon-gun Public Health Center. Yonhap News

However, in the first recruitment notice issued early last month, the county offered a daily wage of 600,000 won, but no one applied. In the second notice in the middle of the same month, the daily wage was raised to 1 million won. Based on 20 working days, this amounts to 20 million won per month, or 240 million won per year, a very high annual salary, yet no applicants have come forward.

The county has been conducting a third recruitment round since the 28th of last month, with the deadline set for the 12th. However, it is understood that, so far, there have only been a few inquiry calls and no actual applications.

Hapcheon-gun covers an area of 983.58 square kilometers, about 1.6 times the size of Seoul. However, population density is low and the aging rate is close to 40 percent, meaning reliance on public healthcare in the region is high and the roles of the public health center and public health doctors are considered crucial. There are concerns that if the staffing gap continues for a long period after the departure of public health doctors, it could cause not only disruptions to regular medical services but also difficulties in emergency response.

The outlook for securing personnel is also not bright. The county has been informed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and South Gyeongsang Province that the number of new public health doctors allocated this year could be significantly reduced compared to previous years due to a shortage of available staff. The county is therefore facing a double burden, with its own recruitment efforts faltering and the possibility of a decrease in centrally allocated personnel.

An official from the county said, "Since other cities and counties are in a similar situation, we will work with relevant agencies to come up with countermeasures. We will keep all options open and make every effort to secure personnel."