South Korea will revoke the licenses of thousands of protesting doctors

South Korea’s government said Monday it planned to suspend the licenses of thousands of doctors who quit their jobs nearly two weeks ago, threatening to escalate a dispute that has shaken the country’s health care system.

The announcement came after thousands of doctors, nurses and medical professionals took to the streets on Sunday and gathered with banners reading: “Doctors are not criminals!

For more than a month, young doctors have been embroiled in a conflict with the government over the future of healthcare in the country. Nearly 10,000 interns and residents, about a tenth of all physicians in the country, have left their jobs, most ignoring Thursday’s deadline to return to work. On Monday, the government said it would revoke the licenses of about 7,000 of those doctors.

But two weeks after the strike, it remains unclear how the disagreement will be resolved.

“Why would we want to go back after the government treated us like the bad guys and didn’t respond to our demands?” said Lee Haeju, 32, who until recently lived at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.

Dr. Lee — who said she had so little sleep during her first year of residency that it felt like she was operating on a 48-hour cycle instead of 24 hours — and her cohort have long complained about the pressure they face.

They say some of them don’t even make minimum wage, that their working conditions are Dickensian and that they are overburdened by complaints from patients who like to litigate. Authorities, they say, have long ignored systemic problems that made specialties like dermatology and cosmetic surgery more lucrative than essential services like emergency medicine.

Last month, the government issued a new health care policy that it said would address a long-standing doctor shortage by increasing the number of medical schools by about 65 percent per year. But interns and residents, known as doctors in training, said the government continued to ignore the real problems doctors faced.

“How many people would actually work in our department?” said dr. Lee, who specializes in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.

Surveys show broad public support for increasing admissions to medical schools, the quota for which was last increased in 2006. The government points to statistics showing that South Korea has one of the fewest doctors per capita in the developed world. And it says increasing the number of doctors is crucial in a country with a rapidly aging society.

Faced with legal threats, hundreds of trainee doctors have returned to work, but the vast majority of them continue to protest.

The orders were issued to “prevent serious dangers arising from the collective actions of doctors in training,” Cho Kyoo-hong, the health minister, said in a written response to questions.

Under South Korean law, the government can force some doctors back to work to avoid disruptions to care. Violators can be fined up to 30 million won ($22,000) or imprisoned for up to three years.

For the time being, patients have been referred to smaller hospitals and clinics. Major hospitals have had up to half of their operations postponed, and nurses have been allowed to take over some of the duties of doctors. The government has opened military hospitals and extended the hours of public clinics, and while there have been disruptions, the health care system has not collapsed.

Doctors in training are a crucial cog in South Korea’s medical system. In large hospitals, they often make up a third of the staff and are often the first healthcare providers to care for patients.

Park Dan, 33, said he wanted to become an emergency room doctor to save lives. As a resident of Severance Hospital in Seoul, one of South Korea’s largest hospitals, he said he worked 100 hours a week, often seeing 20 patients every 60 minutes and having to wait hours to go to the bathroom.

“I thought my own life would be cut short in my attempt to save others,” said Mr. Park, who is also the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association.

South Korea has a universal healthcare system that provides care to all citizens. But doctors argue that the government has underinvested in essential services, making specialties such as emergency care and pediatrics less financially attractive to doctors. The government has said it will spend about 10 trillion won (or $7.5 billion) on essential health care services over the next five years.

Early-career physicians in South Korea typically work longer weeks and earn less than their counterparts in the United States. Interns and residents earn about $3,000 a month, which is less than minimum wage given their long work weeks, according to Lee Jaehee, an attorney representing some of the runaway doctors. Their shifts last up to 36 hours, and their work week can be up to 88 hours.

For trainee doctors, the situation is “similar to the Industrial Revolution, when young boys and girls were forced to work in factories,” said Dr. Lim Hyun Taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Association.

This is not the first time that doctors have protested against a government plan to increase the admission quota for medical schools. In 2020, a month-long doctors’ strike forced authorities to shelve a similar plan. But this time, the government has so far remained steadfast in its position and criticism, arguing that the strike has endangered the health and safety of the public.

The doctors reject that idea.

“We have cried with patients and held their hands on the road to recovery,” said Dr. Lee. “We are not criminals.”