South Korea's Yoon says won't back down over medical reforms as doctors strike

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker walks at Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, February 21, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Soo-Hyeon/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) -President Yoon Sun Yeol vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a plan to increase the number of students admitted into medical schools to improve healthcare in South Korea, and said there was no justification for the protests this reform had triggered.

More than 9,000 young doctors, or about two-thirds of the total number of physician trainees in South Korea, walked off the job last week because of the plan, saying the healthcare sector was not short of doctors, and the government should address pay and working conditions first.