Category: Korea-General Topics

The entitled and selfish doctors in Seoul have decided to walkout and leave patients without care:

A hospital affiliated with Seoul National University Hospital remains relatively quiet on June 17, 2024, as senior doctors go on an indefinite walkout in protest against the medical school quota hike.

Patients were denied appointments and sent home without treatment as a majority of doctors at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and its three affiliates went on an indefinite walkout, demanding reconsideration of the medical school quota hike.

On Monday, 529 senior doctors, or 54.7 percent of those at SNUH and its three affiliates, began an indefinite strike in protest against the government’s first increase of the nationwide medical school admission quota in 27 years, by about 1,500 slots for next year. 

The walkout is set to be followed by a nationwide one-day general strike by community doctors on Tuesday, although only a fraction of them are expected to join the collective action. 

Doctors at SNUH, one of the most prominent university general hospitals in South Korea, are demanding that the government cancel administrative penalties imposed on protesting trainee doctors and reconsider the 2025 medical school quota hike.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

After all these months why would the government give in now to these entitled doctors? If anything the government should start making demands against the doctors saying their medical licenses will be permanently revoked for intentionally leaving their jobs and canceling appointments:

Lim Hyun-taek, chief of the Korean Medical Association, announces the association’s plan to go on strike against the government’s medical reform measures during a press conference of the organization in Seoul on June 9, 2024. (Yonhap)

The country’s biggest doctors’ group offered Sunday to hold a vote on whether to go ahead with a mass walkout this week if the government accepts three demands, including revisiting the issue of increasing medical school admissions.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) made the offer two days before it is scheduled to launch the walkout involving medical professors at the “Big 5” hospitals in Seoul, as well as community doctors.

The walkout will be in support of trainee doctors who have remained off the job since February in protest of the government’s medical school enrollment hike plan.

The KMA said it will give the government until 11 p.m. Sunday to respond to its three demands, which also include revising and supplementing key points in the government’s policy package for the essential medical services sector and canceling all penalties against the trainee doctors.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Danes are apparently scared of little spice in their food:

This food fight is certainly spicing up. 

Officials in Denmark have recalled ramen noodles manufactured by Samyang, saying a chili pepper extract included in three of its popular products could “poison consumers.”

However, the South Korean company has hit back, telling the BBC that there’s no problem with the quality of their products — and that the Danes simply can’t handle hot spice. 

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration announced the recall on Tuesday, citing high capsaicin levels in the three recalled instant ramen products: Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken and Hot Chicken Stew.

New York Post via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

How bad have Korean presidents been if Roh Moo-hyun comes out as the top president? Can anyone name one great thing Roh Moo-hyun did during his Presidency? Unless you are a North Korean sympathizer he did nothing great. His biggest accomplishments was increasing anti-Americanism to probably the highest levels ever and then funnelling billions of dollars of money to North Korea which allowed them to develop their nuclear and missile programs. If you can believe it there was a time when South Korea was paying more money to North Korea than to help fund the US-ROK alliance.

Anti-American street rally in Seoul in 2002.

Much of the problems with North Korea today can be linked back to the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun presidencies that believed funding North Korea would lead to economic development and eventual reunification, instead the Kim regime used the funding to advance their nuclear program to threaten the region and now even the world:

Former President Roh Moo Hyun is the favorite of Koreans, and Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung is the No. 1 businessman, according to the survey.

This is the result of a survey of 1,777 people aged 13 or older nationwide (excluding Jeju) from March 22 to April 5. The confidence level is 95% and the sampling error is ±2.3 percentage points.

When asked about the “favorite president of all time”, 31% of the respondents chose former president Roh Moo Hyun. Former President Park Chung-hee followed with 24 percent and former President Kim Dae Jung with 15 percent.

Maeil Business Newspaper

You can read more at the link, but Chung Ju-yung as the best businessman I can at least say he accomplished something great by founding Hyundai and becoming at the time the richest man in Korea. However, like former President Roh, Chung was another guy funneling cash to North Korea on behalf of the Kim Dae-jung presidency. Chung is yet another person through what he thought were good intentions helped create the North Korean nuclear and missile programs that remain a regional and even global threat today.

It is amazing how little these doctors in Seoul think of the Hippocratic Oath as they let patients go without care because of their own selfishness:

Doctors at major hospitals in Seoul and its neighboring areas have decided to stage indefinite walkouts, while medical professors resolved Wednesday to join community doctors in a one-day strike next week, demanding the suspension of a medical school quota hike.

In a meeting late Wednesday, professors from the country’s 40 medical schools decided to join the one-day general strike set for next Tuesday, organized by the biggest association of community doctors.

Kim Chang-soo, head of the Medical Professors Association of Korea, told Yonhap News Agency that the association has decided to join the strike, though he said it remains unclear how many professors will actually participate in the walkout.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty large quake for South Korea:

An official at the Korea Meteorological Administration points to the location near Buan County, North Jeolla Province, where a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday morning, on a map displayed at the administration in Seoul. Yonhap

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck an area near the southwestern county of Buan, North Jeolla Province, on Wednesday morning, marking the strongest tremor to be detected on the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding waters so far this year.

Usually, North Jeolla Province seldom experiences earthquakes, and it was the first time that a quake with a magnitude of more than 4 has occurred in the region.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the epicenter of the quake was detected 4 kilometers south-southwest of Buan at 8:26 a.m., with a latitude of 35.7 degrees north, a longitude of 126.71 degrees east, and a depth of 8 kilometers.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is probably another reason why the Yoon administration should not have made this possible find of oil of the coast of Korea public because the opposition controlled National Assembly doesn’t want to give them credit:

The government’s ambitious project to excavate oil and gas in the East Sea is expected to face challenges in securing a budget from the National Assembly, according to sources, Sunday.

While the government aims to allocate a budget of 100 billion won ($72.4 million) next year for initial drilling, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is putting on the brakes, first demanding the transparent disclosure of relevant information regarding the project.

According to the government, a budget of 100 billion won is needed for drilling one prospective structure. Its goal is to commence initial exploratory deepwater drilling within the first half of the 2025, following sequential exploratory drilling of the four remaining prospective structures.

For next year, following the usual practice, the government plans to cover approximately 50 percent of the total project cost, or 50 billion won, through the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC). The remaining 50 percent will be provided as government loans to KNOC.

Korea Times

Here is the reason the opposition is giving:

“The trade ministry and the KNOC have refused to submit key documents, including those related to the appropriateness of Act-Geo’s selection, the bidding process, project feasibility evaluation results, the list of domestic and international advisory panels, meeting minutes and final reports,” the lawmakers said.

They stated that a review of relevant documents submitted by the government is needed before determining the appropriateness of the proposed budget.

The ruling People Power Party refuted the claims, saying the DPK is objecting for political purposes

It is pretty clear that the opposition will keep delaying funding for this oil find just to ensure the Yoon administration doesn’t get credit for it.

It appears Korea’s prosecutor general will soon question South Korea’s First Lady about the handbag scandal:

Prosecutors are considering summoning first lady Kim Keon Hee over her controversial acceptance of a Christian Dior bag from a pastor in 2022, with the country’s top prosecutor saying that “no one stands above the law,” in reference to Kim’s case.

If Kim appears before prosecutors, it will be the first instance of the authorities questioning the wife of a sitting president. This event is likely to create massive political turmoil, adversely affecting public sentiment toward President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Korea Times

The handbag scandal was clearly a political hit job, but it is unclear the consequences Kim Keon-hee could face:

The Act on Improper Solicitation and Graft stipulates that the spouse of a public servant must not receive, request, or promise to receive any money or goods exceeding 1 million won in connection with the official’s duties. However, the act does not specify punishments for the spouse.

If Kim were to be punished, prosecutors should indict her on charges of bribery or breach of trust, which is stated in the Criminal Act. In this case, there should be evidence showing that Choi received unfair or illegal benefits. Due to this, controversies are expected to continue over-interpreting legal aspects of the case.

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out because Choi never received any benefits from the First Lady after giving her the handbag.