Mar. 23

• ●Gov. told to reward, not penalize, parental leave takers (The Korea Herald)
  South Korea's anti-corruption watchdog on Thursday recommended the government to implement measures to provide incentives for public sector workers who took paternity leave, and to ensure they are not penalized for taking leave to take care of their children.
  
  

• ●Health minister rules out compromise on allocation of increased medical school seats (The Korea Times)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Friday there is no room for compromise on the allocation of an additional 2,000 medical school admission seats, although the government has continued to seek talks with the medical community.

Mar. 24

• ●Yoon pledges 'flexible measures' to deal with striking doctors as PPP chief urges leniency (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday his administration will work with the conservative People Power Party (PPP) to devise "flexible measures" to deal with the ongoing doctors' strike after the PPP leader met with representatives of medical school professors in the afternoon.
  
  

• ●For would-be immigrants to Korea, reality often falls short of rhetoric (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Korea wants more skilled immigrants to come and boost its labor force, one of the fastest aging and shrinking in the world.
  
  

• ●Yoon calls for flexible ways to process suspension of medical licenses (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday urged Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to consult with political parties to seek a flexible process in suspending the licenses of striking trainee doctors, the presidential office said.
  
  

• ●2 out of 3 workers in small business took less than 6 days off last year (The Korea Herald)
  A recent survey showed that about 67.9 of South Koreans working at an enterprise employing less than five people had less than six days of paid leave last year, a civic group said Sunday.
  
  

• ●S. Korea's medical crisis: no end in sight (The Korea Herald)
  The ongoing conflict between the government and medical communities over a medical student quota expansion plan shows no signs of tempering, with both parties refusing to back down despite confusion speading at hospitals across the country.
  
  

• ●Doctors refusing walkout protest 'coercion' to join medical strike (The Korea Herald)
  Trainee doctors and medical school students not participating in a nationwide walkout released a statement Saturday, calling for other medical staff to respect their decision not to walk out on patients.
  
  

• ●What are the reasons for the gender wage gap? Women say discrimination, men say career breaks (The Korea Herald)
  South Korean men and women have differing opinions on the reason behind the country's gender wage gap, the largest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development states, with women attributing the gap to sexual discrimination while men say it is because frequent career breaks result in shorter careers for women.
  
  

• ●Health care standoff to worsen amid looming resignations by med professors (The Korea Herald)
  The monthlong confrontation between the government and doctors was feared to worsen further as medical school professos were to tender mass resignations and cut back on patient care starting this week, while the government was to suspend the licenses of striking trainee doctors, officials said Sunday.
  
  

• ●[Column] What's really motivating Korea's young doctors to walk off the job? (The Hankyoreh)
  "Among all students who took the college entrance exam nationwide, the top 3,058 make it into medical schoo...."
  
  

• ●Medical professors begin tendering resignations en masse (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Hundreds of medical professors began tendering their resignations en masse on Monday in support of junior doctors, despite President Yoon Suk Yeol ordering "closer communication" with health care professionals.

Mar. 25

• ●Government to discuss 'flexible measures' on junior doctors behind mass walkout (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Health Ministry Cho Kyoo-hong on Monday "welcomed" a medical professors' group's position, saying they are "ready to have constructive dialogue with the government."
  
  

• ●Health minister vows to swiftly hold talks with medical community over doctors' walkout (The Korea Herald)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday relevant ministries have swiftly begun work to hold talks with the medical community, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a "flexible" measure over the government's move to suspend licenses of defiant trainee doctors.
  
  

• ●Medical professors demand gov't scrap increased medical school admission seats (The Korea Times)
  A group of medical professors on Monday demanded the government scrap a reform plan that increased medical school admission seats, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan is abolished.
  
  

• ●Medical professors resign, cut work hours in support of junior doctors' walkout (The Korea Times)
  Medical professors began submitting their resignations and reducing their work hours Monday in support of a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, despite the government's attempt for talks over a reform plan that increased the number of medical students, according to a doctors' group.

Mar. 26

• ●Yoon promises a 'bold investment' into the medical sector (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday promised t make a "bold investment" in the medical sector, giving it the same weight as national security, amid an escalating standoff with doctors.
  
  

• ●Doctors' group picks new leader amid tense standoff over increased enrollment quota (The Korea Herald)
  A major lobby group of community doctors picked a new leader Tuesday as a prolonged walkout by junior doctors over a medical school enrollment quota continued to disrupt services at major hospitals.
  
  

• ●Yoon offers to jointly discuss next year's medical budget with doctors (The Korea Herald)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol offered Tuesday to jointly discuss next year's medical budget with the medical community, his office said, amid a protracted walkout by junior doctors protesting an increase in the medical school enrollment quota.
  
  

• ●Yoon urges doctors to engage in dialogue amid protracted walkout (The Korea Times)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol once again urged doctors Tuesday to participate in dialogue with the government about medical reforms and persuade junior doctors to return to work from a walkout protesting the increase in the medical school quota.
  
  

• ●"Raising a child is expensive," a survey reveals why Koreans aren't having babies (The Chosun Daily)
  South Koreans believe that the country's alarmingly low birth rate stems from high costs associated with child-rearing, according to a survey released on Mar. 26.

Mar. 27

• ●Childbirths in Korea hit another low in January (The Korea Times)
  The number of babies born in Korea fell to a record low for any January this year, data showed Wednesday, deepening woes about the country's demographic picture due to rapid aging and ultra-low birth rate.
  
  

• ●96% of young people perceive children as expenses: research (The Korea Times)
  The financial burden of raising children is the biggest cause behind the country's continually falling birthrate, with almost all people aged between 20 and 44, the age group mostly marrying and having children, feeling pressure about it, a survey by a state-run institute showed, Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Rapid aging in S. Korea: Elderly population to soar to half by 2072 (The Chosun Daily)
  According to the Statistics Korea, the country's population in 2023 stood at 51.71 million, with seniors aged 65 and older constituting 18.2% of the total.
  
  

• ●Newly elected doctors' group chief urges Yoon to 'directly' talk with trainees (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The country's largest doctors' group has elected a new leader who urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to "directly participate in talks with junior doctors to convince them to return."
  
  

• ●1 in 5 unwed Korean women want child-free life, study shows (The Hankyoreh)
  ne in five unmarried South Korean women would prefer not to have children, recent survey results showed.
  
  

• ●New chief of doctors' group expected to step up protest against gov't (The Korea Times)
  Protests by the doctors' community against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's planned medical school admissions quota hike are expected to intensify as the Korea Medical Association (KMA), the country's biggest coalition of physicians, elected a new leader who has taken a firm stance against the policy.

Mar. 28

• ●Hospitals close wards, go into debt after junior doctors' walkout (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Seoul's largest hospitals are closing inpatient wards to cut operating costs, mainly due to snowballing debt.
  
  

• ●S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families (The Korea Herald)
  The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday said it will put more responsibility on non-custodial mothers and fathers to bear child-rearing expenses y having them pay the government directly for the expenses covered by the state in advance.
  
  

• ●Voluntary subscribers for state pension service declining (The Korea Herald)
  The number of South Koreans who voluntarily subscribe to the National Pension Service continued on a downward trajectory last year, according to the NPS on Thursday.
  
  

• ●Financial struggles leading trigger for suicidal ideation (The Korea Herald)
  Stress related to financial difficulties was the primary cause of suicidal ideation among Koreans across all age groups, a survey on national public perception of suicide released by the Health Ministry showed Thursday.
  
  

• ●Standoff continues as faculty resign at Korea's big 5 hospitals, prompting calls for compromise (The Hankyoreh)
  The South Korean government and physician groups have failed to reach common ground that would allow for dialogue on their conflict over a planned increase in the nationwide medical college admission cap.
  
  

• ●Korea seeks to halve HIV infections by 2030 (The Korea Times)
  Health authorities in Korea have formulated countermeasures against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, aiming to reduce the number by half the current level by the end of 2030.

Mar. 29

• ●Govt. vows not to backtrack increased medical school admission quotas despite doctors' walkout (The Korea Herald)
  The government's ongoing push for medical reform is for the people, and it cannot be subject to negotiations, the health ministry said Friday, effectively rejecting the medical community's call for modifying the state plan to markedly raise medical school enrollment quota.
  
  

• ●Korea required to introduce state-led initiatives due to shortage of caregivers (The Korea Times)
  Korea needs to improve the working conditions of domestic care workers and implant state-led initiatives to tackle future shortages of caregivers, instead of introducing foreign workers at below the legal minimum wage, labor experts said, Thursday.
  
  

• ●More women than men think about taking own lives: health ministry report (The Korea Times)
  More women than men think about suicide and actually attempt to take their own lives due mainly to economic pressures and psychological problems, according to a report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Thursday.
  
  

• ●ILO requests government's stance on its back-to-work order for doctors (The Korea Herald)
  The International Labour Organization has asked the South Korean government to express its position on Korean doctors' request to reconsider the United Nation agency's intervention in its back-to-work order imposed on protesting junior doctors, the labor ministry said Friday.
  
  

• ●Front-line commanders in S. Korea face burden amid manpower shortage (The Chosun Daily)
  Front-line army company commanders in South Korea, are facing a growing operational burden due to a significant decline in military personnel.