SEOUL — South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday the government will adjust its healthcare reform plans to let medical schools determine their own admissions next year in a bid to end a prolonged walkout by junior doctors.Doctors chant slogans during a rally to protest against government plans to increase medical school admissions in Seoul, South Korea on March 3, 2024.
Mr Han said he accepted a proposal made on Thursday by deans of state-funded medical schools to scale back the increase by up to half and to give universities flexibility in determining their quotas, as a potential way to reach a compromise. "By proactively accepting the deans' recommendations, we're hoping to create a chance to protect medical students, normalise education and resolve the dispute," he told a briefing.
The standoff emerged as a key issue in last week's legislative elections, in which Mr Yoon's ruling party failed to regain a majority in the opposition-controlled parliament.