South Korea's Looming Deadline: Doctors' Strike Reaches Critical Point

Thousands of medical interns and residents in South Korea are defying government orders to return to work, risking suspensions of medical licenses and prosecution as they protest the government's plan to boost medical school enrollments. The government has warned of legal repercussions if the strikers don't return to their hospitals, but many are expected to continue the work boycott for weeks or months. The government aims to admit 2,000 more applicants to medical schools next year to address the country's aging population, but many doctors argue that universities aren't ready to provide quality education to that many new students and that the plan would fail to address the chronic shortage of doctors in essential specialties. The strike has caused the cancellation or delay of several hundred surgeries and other medical treatments, and if senior doctors join the walkouts, South Korea's medical service could suffer serious damage.