[News Today] FEW JUNIOR DOCTORS RETURN TO WORK

[LEAD]
Only 2.2% of trainee doctors who walked out in protest against the government's decision to increase medical school admission quotas will return this March. The government offered to delay military service and provided special training exceptions. Despite these efforts, few trainees have been persuaded to come back, amid widespread opposition to increased medical school admissions.

[REPORT]
The government recently unveiled measures to encourage approximately 10,000 resigned trainee doctors to return to work.

The government will not apply the rule banning reinstatement within one year of resignation and will also postpone mandatory military service until they complete their medical training program.

Lee Ju-ho / Deputy Prime Minister for social affairs (Jan.10)
I want to say we have no choice but to continue making efforts to communicate with an open mind.

From last Wednesday to Sunday, 221 hospitals nationwide received applications from junior doctors who will begin training in March this year.

There were 199 applicants, which is just 2.2 percent of the quota.

Only 135 people applied for hospitals in the capital area, including the nation's five major hospitals.

In a phone interview with KBS, a resigned trainee doctor said that no one will move for empty promises and that the starting point for talks is the suspension of the special committee on medical reform.

The medical sector is urging the government to present detailed plans about the education and training of medical students who enter college in March, as the number of med students has increased by over 1,500.

Kim Sung-geun / Spokesperson, Korean Medical Association
We can discuss next steps only after the government ensures that this year's freshmen will receive good education and training over the next six years.

Currently, just 8.7 percent of junior doctors show up for work.

Concerns are rising that the medical vacuum can worsen during the Lunar New Year's holiday.

Kim Soo-jin / Korea University Anam Hospital
By March, many doctors working in general hospitals or treating severe emergency patients will likely be exhausted and quit.

It is expected that more trainee doctors will unlikely return to work unless the government and medical sector find common ground.