Over 30,000 protesters, organizers said, gathered in Seoul on Sunday to stage a mass rally and protest against a government plan to increase medical school admissions.
The South Korean government plans to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting from 2025 to remedy what it said is a shortage of doctors in one of the world's fastest-ageing societies.
Thousands of young doctors have stopped working in major hospitals this month, straining emergency departments. Authorities on Friday stepped up pressure to end the walkout, with South Korean police launching a raid targeting officials of the Korean Medical Association.
The government had given Thursday, February 29, as the deadline for the doctors to return or face penalties, but health ministry data showed more than two-thirds of the trainee doctors, or nearly 9,000, had ignored the call to return to work.
(Source: Agencies)