Towards the end of February, after the South Korean government implemented a new plan to increase their number of doctors, over 10,000 doctors went on strike protesting for higher pay and better working conditions before more staff are introduced.

Doctors, surgeons, and other medical staff went on strike across a range of hospitals in South Korea starting in February and continuing into March.

In South Korea, for every 1,000 patients, there’s only 1-2 doctors, which is below the national average. This causes working hours to be long and conditions beyond stressful. While the new bill would allow a couple more thousand in medical school to fully enter the medical field, the current medical staff at hospitals are concerned about wages and working conditions being fixed prior to new doctors entering the field.

After almost a week, the government issued a warning demanding all doctors to return to work or they could face penalties ranging from a hefty fine and prison time, to losing their medical license. While some returned, the majority continued the strike, forcing the government to pull medical trained professionals from their armies to fill in for those on strike.

Some believe that losing their medical license and prison time is an excessive consequence for only protesting for improved working conditions and pay. Alex Sanchez (12), believes, “Strikes aren’t a bad thing, they’re normally for a good cause, so the people shouldn’t be punished for it.”

Many people hope the strike has yet to make a change, so those in the medical field can continue the amazingly dedicated work they do. People continue waiting for the strike to make a difference and have yet to find out.