Hotline to support doctors defying walkout opens

The government opened a hotline for doctors that the health minister said was intended to support physicians who faced harassment or peer pressure if they chose not to join a mass walkout over healthcare reform plans.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong defended the reforms, which include boosting the number of medical school students, as beneficial for the work conditions of intern and resident doctors, a key demand of the nearly 12,000 trainees who have left their posts.