by Jack Kim

Seoul: South Koreamain Doctors’ The lobby group said on Sunday that it would continue strike on June 18 to protest against the government health care reform The government has approved the plan, ignoring the Prime Minister’s warning that such action would damage the government’s credibility. Medical community,

Korean Medical AssociationThe United Nations Children’s Fund, which represents the country’s 140,000 doctors, said 74% of members who took part in the vote approved the “collective action”.

Association president Lim Hyun-taek said the government’s plan would destroy the country’s economy. Medical System And nothing has been done to change the longstanding problems of under-working doctors in needed specialties and inadequate compensation.

“With the support of representatives from across the country, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) will continue to stand at the forefront of the fight to save the medical system,” Lim said at a meeting attended by representatives from various medical groups.

Lim said members will stop work on June 18 and a massive rally is planned.

South Korean doctors are protesting a plan to increase the number of new students admitted to medical schools from the current 3,000 to 2,000, a key plank of the government’s healthcare reform.

On 20 February, thousands of trainee doctors, including medical interns and resident doctors, walked off the job, causing major hospitals to cut non-emergency services and send patients back to emergency rooms.

The government said the increase was necessary to meet the acute shortage of doctors, which would worsen in the coming years.

Just before the KMA meeting, the government called on the group not to take any steps that would endanger public safety, as this would tarnish the reputation of doctors and erode confidence in the medical profession.

Prime Minister Han Duk-soo said any collective action by doctors was illegal and deeply regrettable and reiterated his call for dialogue to resolve the impasse.

“The social trust that the medical community and patients have built up over many decades must not be broken because of the radical demands of a few individuals,” Han said at a press conference.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing: Jacqueline Wong,