South Korea says will not punish striking doctors

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Monday it would not punish thousands of striking doctors, in a bid to break a months-long standoff over medical training reforms that has plunged hospitals into chaos.

Around 12,000 junior doctors have been on strike since February, protesting against an increase in medical school admissions, which the government says will address one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios among developed nations.

Doctors claim the reforms will erode the quality of services, but proponents of the plan have accused them of trying to safeguard their salaries and social status.

The government has backed off on the scale of the reforms -- which originally envisaged universities accepting 2,000 more medical students each year -- but has refused to drop the policy entirely, as the trainee doctors have demanded.

The strike has continued, with hospitals forced to cancel key operations and treatments, and with patient groups staging protests urging both sides to end the standoff.

"Considering the field situations and demands from the medical field, the government has decided not to seek administrative action against all trainee doctors, regardless of whether they return to work or not," said Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong at a news conference.

The government had previously said it would suspend the medical licenses of the striking doctors, prompting outrage from industry bodies.

The decision was made because "minimising the medical treatment gap for seriously ill patients is more in the public interest" than taking punitive measures against doctors on strike, he said.

The government finalised in May an admission quota hike of around 1,500 for medical schools for 2025, saying it will tackle shortages of doctors and the country's rapidly ageing population.

Some senior doctors have joined the strike, but the months-long protest has not spread as widely as some medics' groups had threatened.