More than 8,000 South Korea trainee doctors join walkout protesting increased school admissions

The emergency departments at three of South Korea's largest hospitals were on red alert on Thursday as trainee doctors protested government plans to increase medical school admissions to boost the healthcare sector, Reuters reported.

Hospitals have been forced to turn away patients and cancel procedures as a result of the protest by nearly two-thirds of the country's young doctors, which began this week. Should the dispute continue, further disruptions to the medical system are expected, the report said.

So far, more than 8,400 doctors have joined the walkout, the health ministry said, equivalent to about 64 percent of the entire population of resident and intern doctors in South Korea.

Government officials are calling on doctors to stop their protests and prioritize their patients.

According to the Seoul Medical Association, hundreds of Seoul doctors plan to hold a rally late on Thursday in front of President Yoon Suk Yeol's office.

The training reforms call for a 65 percent increase in the number of students admitted to medical schools by 2,000 people a year, starting from 2025.

The plan is popular with the public, who experts suggest are tired of long wait times at hospitals, with a recent Korean Gallup poll showing over 75 percent of respondents in favor, regardless of political affiliation, AFP reports.

But it has drawn fierce opposition from doctors, with the Korean Medical Association saying the government's threats of legal action were akin to a "witch hunt" and claiming the plan would create a "Cuban-style socialist medical system," the AFP report added.

Seoul's Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the government's reform plan was necessary given South Korea's rapidly aging society, saying it anticipates that the number of people over 65 would have grown 70 percent by 2035, driving increased demands on hospitals.

(With input from agencies)