Apr. 06

• ●Controversy erupts over different minimum wage for foriegners and seniors (The Korea Times)
  Proposals regarding varying applications of minimum wage, particularly concerning specific groups such as foreigners or seniors, have sparked controversy as the process to determine next year's minimum wage officially began.

Apr. 07

• ●Government is 'flexible' on med school quota issue, prime minister says (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Sunday that the government remains "flexible" regarding the medical school admission quota issue amid the ongoing walkout of junior doctors in protest of the proposed boost.
  
  

• ●Senior doctors positively assess Yoon-junior doctors meeting, vow 'unified' response hike plan withdrawal (The Korea Herald)
  A major doctors' association on Sunday assessed positively the recent meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and the chief of a striking trainee doctors' group despite criticism by some junior doctors, vowing a unified response with trainee doctors and medical professors to the government's medical school quota hike plan.
  
  

• ●Reports of workplace abuse double over past 5 years (The Korea Herald)
  Over 10,000 cases of workplace abuse were reported to authorities last year, the Labor Ministry said Sunday, marking a steep increase every year since the government first started compiling such reports in 2019.
  
  

• ●3 in 10 workers experience workplace harassment: poll (The Korea Times)
  Three out of 10 workers have experienced workplace harassment in the past year, with those considering taking their own lives increasing from the previous year, a survey showed Sunday.
  
  

• ●Workplace harassment reports in S. Korea surge to top 10,000 last year (The Chosun Daily)
  Workplace harassment complaints surged last year, with the total number of reports filed exceeding 10,000, according to South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor on April 7.

Apr. 08

• ●Lack of regional hospital infrastructure blamed for preventable deaths (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The lack of medical infrastructure in rural areas is causing delays for patients seeking medical treatment, leading to death in some cases.
  
  

• ●Health Ministry mandates ID verification for health insurance access (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that starting next month, patients will be required to present their ID card to receive health insurance coverage.
  
  

• ●S. Koreans shoulder slightly less than W1m a year for medical services (The Korea Herald)
  South Koreans paid an average of 960,000 won ($709) in 2021 for medical services, excluding state health insurance coverage, government reports showed Monday.
  
  

• ●Gov't says adjusting med school enrollment hike is 'physically not impossible' (The Korea Times)
  Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said Monday a change in the size of the government's plan to boost the medical school admissions quota is "physically not impossible," indicating that there might be a possibility of adjusting the number despite a "very difficult situation."
  
  

• ●Gov't-doctors negotiations may begin in earnest after elections (The Korea Times)
  The government and doctors are signaling apparent willingness to move toward negotiations to find a breakthrough in their protracted confrontation over the policy to raise the number of medical students by 2,000 next year.

Apr. 09

• ●Single-person households hit all-time high of over 10 million (The Korea Times)
  The number of single-person households in the country peaked at an all-time high of over 10 million last month, a surge spurred by a rapidly aging population and a growing number of people opting to stay single, the interior ministry said Tuesday.
  
  

• ●S. Korean government clarifies its stance on one-year postponement in med school quota hike (The Chosun Daily)
  "We have not intended to review the Korean Medical Association (KMA)'s suggestion for a one-year halt on expanding medical schools and will continue to hold this stance in the future as well," South Korea's presidential office stated in a briefing regarding the expansion of 2,000 medical school seats on Apr. 8.
  
  

• ●Doctors and gov't struggle to negotiate med school quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The medical sector and the government are stumped about how to adjust the admission quota increase in medical schools. 
  
  

• ●Doctors cancel joint press conference amid signs of internal rift (The Korea Herald)
  A doctors' lobby group said Tuesday it was canceling a planned joint press conference with other doctors' groups and medical professors, amid signs of an appraent rift within the medical community over how to respond to the government's plan to increase the medical student quota.
  
  

• ●Rift grows within medical circle over expansion plan (The Korea Herald)
  The medical community appears to be facing a rift over coming up with a unified proposal for the expansion plan a day after the government requested it, as it seeks a breakthrough in the prolonged medical standoff through dialogue.
  
  

• ●Over 40% of S. Koreans live alone: report (The Korea Herald)
  The number of South Koreans living alone rose above the 10 million mark for the first time in March, data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety showed Tuesday, as more older people opt to live alone than ever before.
  
  

• ●Yoon stresses medical reform 'for all' during visit to heart hospital (The Korea Times)
  President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed Tuesday that medical reform should not come at the expense of the public or medical personnel but be made to satisfy both sides.
  
  

• ●Major hospitals suffer huge losses amid trainee doctors' prolonged walkout (The Korea Times)
  Major hospitals across the country are struggling with massive losses due to a nationwide walkout by thousands of trainee doctors, who are protesting the government's medical school quota hike polic, which is now in its eighth week.

Apr. 11

• ●Foreign population in Korea to reach as high as nearly 7% in 2042 (The Korea Times)
  The number of foreign residents in Korea is projected to increase steadily and their proportion of the country's total population could rise to around 7 percent by 2042, the statistics agency said Thursday.

Apr. 12

• ●Foreigners in Korea aging alongside locals: data (The Korea Herald)
  Foreigners are aging alongside locals in South Korea, a country with more senior citizens than young adults.
  
  

• ●Gov't to mobilize over 2,700 additional nurses amid prolonged doctors' walkout (The Korea Times)
  The health ministry said Friday it will send more than 2,700 additional physician assistant (PA) nurses to hospitals to minimize medical system disruptions amid a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.
  
  

• ●Foreigners may account for 1 in 10 working-age people by 2042 (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  One in 0 working-age people in Korea may be a foreigner by 2042 as the population sharply shrinks due to the country's ever-plummeting birth rate.
  
  

• ●Korea to cut no. of teachers amid diminishing student numbers (The Korea Herald)
  Amid administrative efforts to increase the annual enrollment quota for medical schools that sparked the mass walk-out of doctors across the country, the government said it would reduce the number of school teachers going forward, citing a decline in student numbers.