Mar. 09

• ●Govt. set to complete sending 1st suspension notice to striking doctors (The Korea Herald)
  The South Korean government is expected to wrap up sending out the first notice of its plan to suspend the medical licenses of striking trainee doctors next week as part of its disciplinary action against them, sources said Saturday.

Mar. 10

• ●Health minister vows to speed up medical reform despite walkout by trainee doctors (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Sunday that the government would hasten its policy of increasing the number of medical students while issuing warnings against defiant trainee doctors who attacked their colleagues returning to the medical field.
  
  

• ●Is S. Korea violating ILO rules in fight against junior doctors? (The Korea Herald)
  Amid the ongoing standoff between the South Korean government and medical professionals, a new criticism has been raised from within medical circles that the back-to-work order imposed on junior doctors in teaching hospitals violates international labor standards.
  
  

• ●Falls in employment linked to higher suicide rate: study (The Korea Herald)
  A recent think tank study showed that the suicide rate in South Korea tends to go up as the employment rate falls with the effect stronger among women and the younger population.
  
  

• ●1 in 5 teens have faced online abuse: survey (The Korea Herald)
  About 1 in 5 teenagers in South Korea have been subject to online abuse, a recent survey by state-run think-tank found Sunday.
  
  

• ●Health service disruptions widen as walkout by trainee doctors enters 20th day (The Korea Times)
  A mass walkout by about 12,000 trainee doctors entered its 20th day Sunday and caused wider disruptions in health care services across South Korea, prompting the government to implement emergency policies to make up for the shortage of medical staff.
  
  

• ●Seoul enhances infertility aid in response to 0.55 total fertility rate (The Chosun Daily)
  The Seoul Metropolitan Government is taking significant steps to enhance its infertility procedure program in response to the severe low birthrate issue.

Mar. 11

• ●Gov't tells 5,000 junior doctors their licenses will be suspended (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government on Monday said that it had completed sending notices of medical license suspensions to nearly 5,000 junior doctors nationwide.
  
  

• ●'There is medication, but not in Korea': $228M program to support children with cancer (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Ms. Kim, a mother of an eight-year-old diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer, can't forget the daunting moment five years ago when a doctor told her, "There is a medication, but not in Korea."
  
  

• ●All SNU medical professors to resign next week if gov't doesn't seek breakthrough in walkout (The Korea Herald)
  Medical school professors at Seoul National University resolved Monday to submit resignations en masse beginning next week if the government does not seek a reasonable breakthrough in the protracted walkout by trainee doctors, the professors' council said.
  
  

• ●7 in 10 oppose easing rules on marriages between blood relatives: poll (The Korea Herald)
  Nearly 75 percent of South Koreans oppose the government moving toward easing laws related to marriage between blood relatives, a recent poll shows.
  
  

• ●Medical schools paralyzed due to en masse boycotts (The Korea Herald)
  The doctors' protest against the South Korean government's planned medical enrollment quota hike is taking a toll on medical school cmapuses as students are boycotting classes en masse.
  
  

• ●S. Korea's sky-high elderly poverty edges even higher to 38.1% (The Korea Herald)
  More than 38 percent of over-65s were in relative poverty in 2022 a South Korean government report showed Monday.
  
  

• ●Korean workers thought to slack off for 80 mins of work day: survey (The Korea Herald)
  Human resource managers at major companies in Korea think their workers spend approximately 17 percent of their working hours, around 80 minutes, on other activities, a survey showed on Monday.
  
  

• ●Health minister voices leniency for defiant trainee doctors (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday the government will take lenient measures if trainee doctors rturn to work before administrative procedures to suspend their licenses are completed, although they defied a deadline to avoid punitive steps.
  
  

• ●Over 5,000 medical professors and specialists call on Yoon administration to come to negotiation table (The Hankyoreh)
  Medical residents and interns nationwide, who have been resigning en masse to protest government initiatives to increase the number of medical students, are still clashing with the government, which has issued administrative orders for them to return to work.
  
  

• ●Nearly 40% of older adults in Korea mired in poverty (The Korea Times)
  The poverty rate of older adults in Korea, which had been on the decline in previous years, regressed in 2022, raising concerns over related issues, such as diminished access to health care.
  
  

• ●Seoul boosts fertility treatment support by 77% to tackle low birthrate (The Korea Times)
  The number of fertility treatments subsidized by the Seoul city government surged by 77 percent last year, following a decision to eliminate income requirements for accessing the subsidies to address the declining birthrate the country faces.
  
  

• ●Glass ceiling thicker for top gov't, corporate posts in Korea (The Korea Times)
  Women remain underrepresented in top government, judicial and corporate positions in South Korea despite decades of progress in the public sector.
  
  

• ●1 in 5 Korean teenagers experiences cyberbullying: survey (The Korea Times)
  More than 20 percent of teenagers in Korea have experienced online harassment, including bullying and verbal abuse, according to a survey the National Youth Policy Institute released Sunday.
  
  

• ●S. Korean med professors' mixed attitude toward med school expansion (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korean trainee doctors (interns and residents) have collectively walked off their jobs to protest against the government's recruiting more medical students, and some medical professors at university hospitals are also showing signs of resignation.
  
  

• ●S. Korea responds to doctors' strike with emergency measures (The Chosun Daily)
  South Korea's Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong said authorities will dispatch 20 military doctors and 138 public health doctors to 20 hospitals nationwide starting Mar. 11.

Mar. 12

• ●Health minister voices deep regret over SNU medical professors' resignation decision (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong expressed deep concerns Tuesday over medical professors' decision to resign, regarding the ongoing confrontation by the government and striking trainee doctors, vowing efforts to seek a breakthrough.
  
  

• ●Gov't deploys military doctors to address medical service disruptions (The Korea Times)
  The government on Monday began deploying 158 military and public health doctors to hospitals affected by a nationwide walkout staged by thousands of trainee doctors, in a bid to make up for the shortage of medical staff and minimize disruptions to medical services.
  
  

• ●Medical school professors to resign in solidarity with striking doctors (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  professors from Seoul National University (SNU) medical school decided Monday to resign from their posts en masse next week.
  
  

• ●SNU medical school professors to resign en masse over gov't treatment of doctors (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Every professor from Seoul National University (SNU) medical school will resign from their posts amid an ongoing standoff between the government and doctors.
  
  

• ●[Herald Interview] Med school expansion won't solve health care shortage: WMA president (The Korea Herald)
  The South Korean government's decision to add 2,000 new spots in medical school admissions is not a solution to alleviate the immediate needs of medically underserved or specialty areas, according to Dr. Lujain Al-Qodmani, the president of the World Medical Association.
  
  

• ●Health care standoff worsens as professors threaten to leave hospitals (The Korea Herald)
  Further uncertainty is hovering over South Korea's critical care system, as medical professors, who have been filling the vacuum left by junior doctors walking out, warned they too could walk out in protest against the government's expansion plan.
  
  

• ●S. Korean government notifies 4,944 residents and interns of medical license suspension (The Hankyoreh)
  With close to 12,000 medical interns and residents on strike, the Korean government has finished notifying around 5,000 of the trainee doctors that their medical licenses may soon be suspended.
  
  

• ●Medical professors at Seoul National University warn they may resign if government doesn't move to resolve healthcare crisis by Mar. 18 (The Hankyoreh)
  The Korean government has so far notified about 5,000 medical interns and residents that their medical licenses may be suspended.
  
  

• ●Medical professors seek to join mass resignations (The Korea Times)
  Medical professors across the country are threatening to tender their resignations en masse as doctors continue to resist the government's plans to increase medical school enrollment quotas to address an apparent shortage of physicians in rural regions.

Mar. 13

• ●International students face endless roadblocks to joining Korea's workforce (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  A 21-year-old student from Myanmar, wanting to be identified as Kyo, worked part-time at a shushi restaurant, but didn't get a month's worth of salary.
  
  

• ●With no signs of gov't abating, junior doctors walk away (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Junior doctors are walking away from their long-aspired dreams, claiming that the government's medical reform will likely harm not only their personal careers but the medical industry as a whole.
  
  

• ●Medical professors to decide whether to resign by Friday (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  A coalition of 19 medical colleges nationwide will decide about potential professional resignations by Friday.
  
  

• ●PM denounces attempts to delay med school quota hike plan (The Korea Herald)
  South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday criticized recetn attempts made by protesting doctors to delay the government's plan to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 and to lower the cap on the number of students.
  
  

• ●S. Korean healthcare system faces collapse as medical professors warn of collective resgination (The Hankyoreh)
  The emergency action committee of the faculty association of Seoul National University (SNU) medical school has warned of en masse resignations if the government fails to resolve its clash with medical residents and interns by Mar. 18.
  
  

• ●BOK report sparks controversy over foreign care worker wages (The Korea Herald)
  A report by South Korea's central bank has sparked controversy here, as its proposal to bring in foreign national care workers to address the country's rapid aging suggested a need to hire them while paying them less than the minimum wage.
  
  

• ●Migrant workers, caregivers condemn BOK suggestion to exempt foreign nannies from minimum wage (The Korea Times)
  A recent suggestion by some studies and municipalities to introduce foreign care laborers who are paid less than the legal minimum wage has been emerging as a hot-button issue, triggering criticism within labor circles for being a "racist and inhamane" measure breaching international and domestic labor standards.
  
  

• ●Gov't implores medical professors not to resign in support of junior doctors' walkout (The Korea Times)
  The health ministry on Wednesday impoored medical professors not to resign in support of a mass walkout by junior doctors as their labor action showed signs of escalating, with disruptions in medical services continuing for more than three weeks.
  
  

• ●PM says increasing med school admissions based on scientific grounds (The Korea Times)
  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday the government's decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 to address the shortage of doctors was based on scientific analysis.

Mar. 14

• ●Gov't to allocate $987.2 mil. for serious pediatric illness treatment (The Korea Times)
  The government will allocate 1.3 trillion won ($987.2 million) over a five-year period to support the medical treatment of young children with serious illnesses and reduce hospital admission costs for babies under age two, the interior minister said Thursday.
  
  

• ●Medical professors to decide whether to resign by Friday (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Korea is at a critical juncture in its standoff between doctors and the government, as professorial medical doctors will decide whether to resign en masse by Friday.
  
  

• ●Provincial colleges to get 80% of new med school spots (The Korea Herald)
  Of the 2,000 new seats for medical schools being floated by the South Korean government, universities in provincial areas are to get 80 percent, with the rest for schools in Seoul and the vicinity, officials said Thursday, reaffirming the policy decision that has been facing fierce opposition from doctors since last month.
  
  

• ●Patients, families on edge as more doctors consider resigning (The Korea Herald)
  Oh Myung-jin, 44, who has to care for two critically ill family members, blew a fuse after hearing the news of medical professors considering leaving their hospitals too, joining junior doctors in their protest against the government increasing the medical school student quota.
  
  

• ●Korea to create family-friendly gov't offices to address falling birthrate (The Korea Times)
  The Ministry of Personnel Management is committed to formulating family-friendly policies concerning public personnel management to lessen the burden of an increasing number of working parents who have to juggle work and child care, according to Minister Kim Seung-ho.
  
  

• ●Gov't, medical community clash over international labor rules (The Korea Times)
  The government and the medical community hold highly divergent views on whether a back-to-work order imposed on striking trainee doctors, protesting a medical school quota hike policy, violates international labor standards.

Mar. 15

• ●Health minister makes last-minute appeal to medical professors as resignations loom (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Friday made a last-minute appeal for medical professors not to resign en masse in support of a prolonged walkout by junior doctors, as their threat to resign is expected to further disrupt services at major hospitals.
  
  

• ●S. Korea allocates 80% of new medical school seats to provinces (The Chosun Daily)
  The South Korean government plans to allocate the 2,000 medical school seats to be added from this year's admissions, with 80% going to non-metropolitan areas and 20% to the metropolitan area, according to officials on March 14.
  
  

• ●Government considers expanding child care leave to grandparents (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government is considering measures allowing grandparents to take child care leave under certain conditions, following the increase in grandparents participating in child-rearing.
  
  

• ●Parents with higher education levels spend more on children's private education: study (The Korea Herald)
  Parents with higher levels of education spend more on their children's private education, data showed Friday.