Orwell would be impressed by how North Korea is using their version of the “Ministry of Truth” to scrub their state media to create a new reality for their citizens:
North Korea has removed articles with unification references from the website of its state-run media outlet, after leader Kim Jong-un called South Korea the North’s “primary foe” and vowed not to seek unification with the South.
As of Monday, a majority of the articles containing references to unification, such as “peaceful reunification,” “great national unity” and “northern half,” appear to have been deleted from the website of the North’s Korean Central News Agency.
The move came as Kim has defined inter-Korean ties as relations between “two states hostile to each other” during a year-end party meeting.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
The trainee doctors are only facing a year supsension of their medical license which appears to be having little effect. According to the article of the 8,945 trainee doctors that left their worksites, only 565 have since returned to avoid the suspension:
The health ministry said Monday it started taking procedures to suspend the licenses of around 7,000 trainee doctors who have defied the government’s order to go back to work, warning that such punishment would be “irreversible.”
About 9,000 trainee doctors remained off their jobs at general hospitals for the 14th consecutive day Monday, protesting the plan to add 2,000 more medical school seats starting next year, from the current 3,058.
Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the government has taken steps to suspend the medical licenses of trainee doctors who left their worksites.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This is pretty troubling that so many fewer Koreans are deciding to get married:
The number of marriages in South Korea plummeted 40 percent over the past 10 years, leading to a decrease in the country’s birthrate, government data showed Sunday.
A total of 193,673 marriages were reported last year, sharply down from 322,807 cases in 2013, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The 2023 tally was slightly higher than the 191,690 marriages reported in 2022, but the yearly tally decreased for 11 consecutive years from 2012 to 2022.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Some professions like the military, police, and fire departments should not be allowed to protest because of the important public servant roles they play. It seems doctors should be part of that group. How many people will have negative health outcomes from all the cancelled appointments from these doctors striking to stop an increase medical providers to rural areas?:
Tens of thousands of doctors held a rally in western Seoul on Sunday to protest the government’s medical school quota hike plan as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo hinted at the possible suspension of medical licenses for striking trainee doctors.
The rally by member doctors of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the biggest medical lobby group, came as thousands of trainee doctors have remained off their jobs at general hospitals for the 13th day, protesting the plan to add 2,000 more medical school seats starting next year.
Crowds of doctors filled up a street in Seoul’s western district of Yeouido, waving protesting flags and holding up signs reading “Absolute opposition to a medical school quota hike without agreement from medical fields,” or “Unprepared medical school quota hike compromises medical education.”
Yonhap
Look at the shady tactics these doctors are using to increase their protest numbers:
The presidential office also vowed to respond with “zero tolerance” after allegations emerged online that some doctors were trying to forcibly mobilize drug salesmen for their rally protesting the government’s medical school quota hike plan.
Ahead of Sunday’s rally, several postings appeared on online communities, claiming that some doctors were forcing salesmen of pharmaceutical companies to join the gathering.
Salesmen of pharmaceutical companies are often under the sway of doctors who have the authority to prescribe or change certain drugs. A posting said, “I am being forcibly mobilized because a doctor I trade with said he will change drugs if I do not show up.”
You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Does the government have the will to suspend or fire all these doctors? Pretty clearly the medical community does not think so.
Feel free to discuss anything you want in the comments section.
There is a new rotational brigade in South Korea:
The commander of 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Col. Jeffrey Barta, leads a formation during an authority transfer ceremony at Hanson Field House on Camp Casey, South Korea, Feb. 29, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
A Texas-based cavalry regiment took over as the 2nd Infantry Division’s rotational force in South Korea during a ceremony roughly 15 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment, of Fort Cavazos, Texas, assumed its new role from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team in front of about 350 troops gathered Thursday at Hanson Field House on Camp Casey. The Stryker team returns to Fort Carson, Colo., having completed its nine-month deployment.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
