Mar. 31

• ●Government-doctor talks remain at standstill on quota expansion plan (The Korea Herald)
  Clouds are hovering over the government's attempts to seek a breakthrough with medical circles, a week after it left the door open for talks, as doctors refuse to bend and as the government locks horns within the ruling bloc over the expansion plan.
  
  

• ●Fatigued medical professors set to reduce working hours (The Korea Times)
  Medical professors are set to reduce their working hours this week to cope with growing fatigue caused by a protracted walkout by junior doctors.
  
  

• ●Gov't, schools accelerate efforts to enhance medical education (The Korea Times)
  The government and universities that run medical schools nationwide are expediting improvements to medical education conditions, in response to concerns about a possible decline in quality arising from the government's decision to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 next year.

Apr. 01

• ●Yoon to address nation on medical reform Monday amid attention to possible change to 2,000 quota hike (The Korea Times)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to address the nation Monday on the government's push for medical reform, his office said Sunday, amid keen attention to whether he may show a flexible attitude toward the state plan to boost the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats.
  
  

• ●3-year-old dies following denied hospital transfer in South Korea's medical crisis (The Chosun Daily)
  A 33-month-old girl who was rescued from cardiac arrest after falling into a water-filled puddle in Boeun-gun, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, passed away on Mar. 30, over three hours later.
  
  

• ●Yoon doubles down on 2,000 seat hike in med schools in public address (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol underscored a hike of 2,000 seats in the medical school enrollment quota next year was an irrefutable necessity in a public address Monday, while apologizing to the people for inconveniencing them in the clash between the government and doctors' groups.
  
  

• ●Doctors reduce hours, cutting back surgeries and outpatient service (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Doctors across Korea will limit their service hours starting Monday in protest of the government's plan to expand the medical school admissions quota, hindering access to health care.
  
  

• ●Doctors limit service hours to protest admissions hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Doctors across Korea limit their service hours starting Monday in protest of the government's plan to expand the medical school admissions quota, hindering acess to health care.
  
  

• ●Seoul education office to support same-sex schools to turn coed (The Korea Herald)
  Seoul plans to boost fiscal support to encourage single-sex schools in the city to transition to coeducational schools, which refers to schools where male and female students are taught together, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Monday.
  
  

• ●Yoon says 'open to talks' but doctors express disappointment (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that he is open to talks with doctors if they can suggest a more plausible option than his administration's plan of adding 2,000 more medical students a year, seeking a breakthrough in a prolonged medical standoff that has appraently been affecting the ruling party's election compaign.
  
  

• ●Private physicians, med professors start reducing work hours (The Korea Herald)
  Patient anxiety over health care disruptions is growing as medical professors and private physicians started reducing their work hours to protest against the medical school quota expansion plan on Monday, shrugging off the government's efforts to facilitate talks.
  
  

• ●Health minister vows to accomplish medical reform (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday the government will accomplish medical reform, despite a prolonged walkout by junior doctors that have crippled public health services at major hospitals for nearly six weeks.
  
  

• ●'Half of cancer surgeries pushed back,' but Korea's medical professors still cut hours (The Hankyoreh)
  Professors of medicine who work at teaching hospitals across Korea will reduce their working hours starting Monday.
  
  

• ●Emergency rooms at major hospitals feel heat as medical professors cut working hours (The Korea Times)
  Some emergency departments at major hospitals turned away patients or reduced procedures Monday as medical professors began cutting their working hours to cope with growing fatigue caused by a protracted walkout by junior doctors.
  
  

• ●Senior doctors lambaste Yoon's national address on medical reform (The Korea Times)
  Senior doctors lashed out at President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday for repeating "false claims" on the planned hike in medical school admissions and junior doctors' walkout without presenting any solution to resolve the medical service disruptions.
  
  

• ●Korean president slams doctor 'cartel' as strike drags on (The Korea Times)
  Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday slammed the "cartel" of medics who oppose sector reforms, saying the government would not back down on plans that have triggered a month-long doctors' strike.
  
  

• ●Yoon calls for unified proposal on med school admissions increase (The Korea Times)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol called on doctors Monday to come up with a "unified proposal" on the appropriate increase in medical school admissions, saying the government will be open to talks though it believes a hike of 2,000 is the minimum.

Apr. 02

• ●Yoon invites junior doctors for a 'direct conversation' (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol is willing to have a "direct conversation" with junior doctors to listen to their voices, his office said Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Local governments look to foreign talent to solve labor shortages (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Local governments nationwide are announcing policies to attract international talent and provide career support to students studying in the regions amid labor shortages.
  
  

• ●University students find new ways to get affordable meals (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Finding an affordable meal is difficult, even near university neighborhoods where food should be cheap, and students are finding their own ways to budget during hard times.
  
  

• ●Dependents of foreigners eligible for health insurance only after 6 months (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Foreigners and overseas Koreans can only become eligible for public health insurance coverage as dependents if they reside in Korea for at least six months, according to the Health Ministry Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Court dismisses med professors' request to avert expansion plan (The Korea Herald)
  The Seoul Administrative Curt on Tuesday dismissed an injunction request filed by 33 representatives of the Medical Professors Association of Korea against the government's planned hike in medical school enrollment quotas, as well as the administrative lawsuit against the health and education ministers, respectively.
  
  

• ●Govt. to expand range of E-9 visas (The Korea Herald)
  The South Korean government announced on Tuesday that it would begin accepting applications from business owners that want to hire workers from 16 designated countries eligible for E-9 visas starting later this month.
  
  

• ●Foreigners must stay in S. Korea for 6 months to be eligible for state health insurance as dependents (The Korea Herald)
  Foreigners and overseas Koreans can only become eligible for the state health insurance coverage as dependents if they reside in South Korea for at least six months, according to the health ministry Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Yoon sticks to guns on med school quota hike, admonishes protesting doctors (The Hankyoreh)
  In his address to the nation on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called an annual increase of 2,000 medical school students the "bare minimum figure based on our thorough calculations," adding, "If the state bows to the demands of a special interest group, then it cannot be called a functioning state."
  
  

• ●Doctors, nurses eye overseas jobs amid ongoing quota dispute (The Korea Times)
  Since the government announced its plan to increase the annual quota of medical school admissions by 2,000, there has been a significant rise in the number of medical students considering overseas training.
  
  

• ●Emergency rooms at major hospitals show growing signs of strain as doctors' walkout continues (The Korea Times)
  Emergency departments at major general hospitals have showed increasing signs of strain, a senior official said Tuesday, as a mass walkout by junior doctors in protest of the government's plan to hike medical school admissions entered its seventh week.

Apr. 03

• ●President Yoon to hold talks with protesting doctors to resolve healthcare dispute (The Chosun Daily)
  President Yoon Suk-yeol on April 2 expressed his intention to meet with resident doctors who have left their hospitals in protest against the government's policy to increase the number of doctors.
  
  

• ●Government says med school quota hike can change with 'reasonable grounds' (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Wednesday that the government's policies on the medical school admission quota hike are "always open and chan change for the better if more reasonable grounds are provided."
  
  

• ●Almost half of schools join state-backed after-school programs (The Korea Herald)
  Students and schools' pariticipation in before- and after-school care programs, a new state-backed child care initiative, has increased over a month into the launch, Ministry of Education reported Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Prospect for dialogue grows as senior doctors welcome Yoon's offer (The Korea Herald)
  Eyes are on whether junior doctors would engage in talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol to seek a breakthrough in the ongoing medical standoff and the expansion plan, as senior doctors on Wednesday encouraged them to accept his offer of dialogue.
  
  

• ●Govt. open to change in medical school quota hike if better option is proposed: minister (The Korea Herald)
  The government is open to the possibility of changing its policy to increase the medical school admission quota if a better option is proposed, the interior minister said Wednesday, as the walkout by protesting trainee doctors continued for the seventh week.
  
  

• ●Korean med schools swallow bitter pill by pushing back classes to avoid mass flunking (The Hankyoreh)
  After President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated his intention to create 2,000 more placements at Korean medical schools on Monday, the medical education community said that measures must be taken to guarantee that the quality of education does not suffer as a result of an increase in students.
  
  

• ●Yoon pledges to meet face-to-face with protesting trainee doctors (The Hankyoreh)
  President Yoon Suk-yeol said he's willing to meet directly with the medical interns and residents who are currently on strike.
  
  

• ●After-school program participation surpasses expectations, challenges remain (The Korea Times)
  After one month of operation, after-school care program aimed at providing child care services and education are showing promising signs of success with an increase in the number of participating schools and students.
  
  

• ●South Korea tightens health insurance rules to curb foreign 'free riders' (The Chosun Daily)
  Mr. A, a Chinese man in his 70s, came to South Korea in July 2020 to treat liver cancer.

Apr. 04

• ●Yoon eases loans criteria for newlywed couples (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday the government will ease the loans criteria for young families as part of efforts to boost the country's dismally low birthrate.
  
  

• ●[Graphic News] International marriages up 18% (The Korea Herald)
  The number of marriages between South Koreans and foreign national spouses rose more than 18 percent in 2023, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
  
  

• ●Yoon, trainee doctors to meet today to discuss medical school quota issue (The Korea Times)
  The interim leader of trainee doctors' group said, Thursday, he would meet President Yoon Suk Yeol later in the day to discuss the ongoing strike of the doctors in protest of the government's plan to expand the number of medical school students.
  
  

• ●Yoon vows to respect views of junior doctors (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that he would respect junior doctors' position on the medical student quota expansion plan when discussing the matter with the medical community in the future, his office said, after he met with the head of the group.
  
  

• ●President Yoon affirms 'respect for voices of junior doctors' in face-to-face meeting (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol told the head of a major junior doctors' group that he will "respect" the perspectives of doctors in training during an in-person meeting Thursday.
  
  

• ●Yoon to push for foreign students in domestic service, more accessible newlywed housing loans (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government will push for foreign employment in the child care and domestic service industries in Korea and a lower threshold for housing loans for newlyweds, President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Thursday.
  
  

• ●Trainee doctors' group head says 'no future for S. Korea's medical community' after meeting with Yoon (The Korea Herald)
  The leader of a trainee doctors' group said Thursday there is "no future for South Korea's medical community" after his meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol over the government's push to increase medical school admissions.
  
  

• ●Yoon eyes foreign students, spouses as domestic helpers (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered South Korean government ministries to explore ways to help South Korean families hire foreign students and marriage migrants as domestic helpers, doubling down on a troubled program designed to address the country's low fertility rate.
  
  

• ●S. Korea to stack up 7.23m COVID-19 vaccines for high-risk groups this winter (The Korea Herald)
  The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Thursday said it would secure some 7.23 million doses of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines for winter this year for individuals at a higher risk of developing the illness as variants of the virus continue to pose a risk to public health.
  
  

• ●Korea has most 'skinny fat' young women: report (The Korea Herald)
  South Korea has the highest percentage of "skinny fat" women in their 20s out of 17 countries surveyed, according to a report.
  
  

• ●Trainee doctors' leader says 'no future for Korea's medical community' after meeting with Yoon (The Korea Times)
  The leader of a trainee doctors' group said Thursday there is "no future for South Korea's medical community" after his meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol over the government's push to increase medical school admissions.
  
  

• ●Gov't extends deployment of public health doctors amid prolonged walkout (The Korea Times)
  The health ministry said Thursday the government has extended the deployment of public health doctors and military surgeons at hospitals hit by the prolonged walkout of junior doctors protesting the medical school quota hike.

Apr. 05

• ●Medical professors to file constitutional petition over doctor quota hike (The Korea Times)
  Medical professors plan to file a constitutional appeal over the government's decision to raise medical school admissions, claiming the increase violates their basic rights, officials said Friday.
  
  

• ●Korean government mulls expanding foreign worker employment in food industry (The Chosun Daily)
  The South Korean government is considering measures to allow non-professional work visa holders (E-9 visa holders) to work in all types of eateries as part of efforts to address persistent labor shortages across sectors.
  
  

• ●Junior doctors and gov't fail to agree on medical reforms (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government and medical sector failed to narrow their differences over planned medical reforms despite a face-to-face meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and the head of a junior doctors' group on Thursday.
  
  

• ●Hopes for breakthrough fade as talks yield no change in stance (The Korea Herald)
  Hopes for a breakthrough in the protracted medical standoff are fading after the meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Park Dan, the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association, ended without agreement Thursday, with the two sides still far apart.
  
  

• ●Yoon, trainee doctors come away from meeting without finding resolution (The Hankyoreh)
  President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Park Dan, the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on Thursday.