S. Korean trainee doctors walk off job over medical school slots

Four of the five hospital groups where the trainee doctors threatened to walk off the job said they were still in the process of counting workers scheduled for duty. - Yonhap via AP

SEOUL: South Korean trainee doctors walked off the job from Tuesday (Feb 20) in a move set to slow the delivery of health care, in protest of a government plan to drastically increase spots at medical schools to reverse a shortage of physicians.

More than 1,000 trainee doctors have indicated they plan to resign and some have not reported to work Tuesday, Yonhap News reported. The extent of the walkout is not yet known but it has caused some hospitals to delay or postpone surgeries.