North Korea fires ballistic missile as South hosts democracy conference
Seoul, South Korea Reuters North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Monday for the first time in two months, at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul to attend a conference hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol on advancing democracy. South Korea’s military said the missile was […]
South Korea opens hotline to support doctors defying walkout
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea’s government opened a hotline for doctors on Tuesday that the health minister said was intended to support physicians who faced harassment or peer pressure if they chose not to join a mass walkout over healthcare reform plans. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong defended the reforms, which include boosting the number […]
South Korea deploys military, public doctors to strike-hit hospitals
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea will start deploying military physicians and doctors from public health centres to strike-hit hospitals on Monday to help care for patients affected by the walkout of nearly 12,000 trainee doctors from 100 hospitals over government reform plans. Twenty military surgeons along with 138 public health doctors will be assigned […]
South Koreans bid farewell to beloved panda Fu Bao before her return to China
Seoul, South Korea Reuters A South Korean zoo on Sunday threw a farewell party for Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in the country, ahead of the beloved animal’s scheduled return to China. Fu Bao, which means lucky treasure, has attracted a huge fan base ever since she was born in July, 2020, at […]
South Korean doctors holds a mass rally against medical policy
Seoul, South Korea Reuters Thousands of South Korean doctors held a mass rally on Sunday against government plans to increase medical school admissions, defying official calls for trainee physicians who had also walked off the job in protest to return to work. Up to 40,000 doctors joined the rally, demanding the government scrap the plan, […]
South Korea’s Yoon says won’t back down over medical reforms as doctors strike
Seoul, South Korea Reuters President Yoon Suk 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 […]
Overworked and unheard, South Korean doctors on mass walkout say
Seoul, South Korea Reuters Ryu Ok Hada always wanted to help people, but now the South Korean trainee doctor has walked off the job and stands outside the hospital where he worked, holding his medical gown in his hand. Park Dan, who recently realised his childhood dream of being an emergency physician, is also one […]
South Korea health alert raised to ‘severe’ over doctors walkout
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea will maximise the use of public hospitals to respond to growing strains on the medical system after a mass walkout by trainee doctors, the prime minister said on Friday, as the public health alert was elevated to the highest level. The protests by almost two-thirds of the country’s young […]
South Korea emergency units turn back patients as doctors protest
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea’s biggest hospitals cancelled procedures and turned away patients seeking emergency care on Wednesday after thousands of trainee doctors walked off the job in protest at a government plan to boost medical school admissions. One hospital, the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, put up a sign saying its emergency unit […]
North Korea scraps all economic cooperation with South Korea
Seoul, South Korea Reuters North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has voted to scrap all agreements signed with South Korea on promoting economic cooperation, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, as the two Koreas’ relations continue to deteriorate sharply. The assembly, which takes formal steps to adopt policy dictated by the ruling Workers’ […]