Government to fulfill its obligations imposed by the law regarding doctors not returning to work

Tensions between the government and doctors are reaching a boiling point as \'strong vs. strong\' confrontations continue. Members of the Korean Medical Association hold a \

Three days after the government's deadline for returning to work, there has been no sign of any movement by trainee doctors who oppose the increase in the number of medical students.

Doctors from across the country held a mass rally, and the government's administrative and judicial procedures against the unreturned trainee doctors are expected to begin in earnest from March 4, worsening “the strong versus the strong'' confrontation between thegovernment and the medical community.

"It has been three days since the government requested trainee doctors to return to hospitals, but most of them have not returned,"Prime Minister Han Deok-soo said at a meeting at the Government Complex in Seoul on the 3rd. "If the situation of illegally vacating hospitals continues, the government will not hesitate to fulfill the government's obligations imposed by the Constitution and laws." As of 5 p.m. on February 29, a total of 565 trainee doctors (4.3 percent of the total workforce) had returned to hospitals, based on 100 training hospitals.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare posted on its website on March 1 that 13 trainee doctors, including Park Dan, chairman of the emergency committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), had been served with a "public notice of work resumption order" in the name of the Minister of Health and Welfare. It also made it clear that if they refuse to comply with the order without a valid reason, they could be disposed of and criminally prosecuted under the medical law.

The government's action means that the effectiveness of the order is confirmed, implying that administrative penalties such as suspension of licenses or judicial proceedings such as accusations are imminent. The ministry will give trainee doctors an opportunity to state their opinions after giving prior notice of the disposition. From the 4th, the ministry officials will go to the site and conduct a verification process for doctors who are found to be in violation of the work resumption order by collecting evidence.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.