South Korea Community Doctors, Nursing Assistants Go on Strike Against Nursing Bill

Community doctors and certified nursing assistants in South Korea went on strike this week in protest of a nursing bill that passed parliament last week. The doctors and nursing assistants went on strike out of fear that the legislation would hurt their jobs despite improving the salaries and working conditions of nurses.

Over 10,000 South Korean community doctors and certified nursing assistants took strike action on Wednesday in protest of a nursing bill. Over a dozen groups went on strike, including the Korean Medical Association – representing all the doctors in South Korea, and the Korean Licensed Practical Nurses Association – representing the largest group of nursing assistants.

Most of the demonstrators used their holidays or shortened business hours to stage the protest, while major hospitals in the country were operating as usual.

The legislation they were protesting against sought to help nurses – the sector that has experienced burnout during the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the doctors saw the bill as allowing nurses to provide people with treatment even without a medical license, and nursing assistants said it would expand the jobs for registered nurses at their expense. They have since urged President Yoon Suk-yeol to either veto the bill or make amendments to the legislation.

An official from Yoon’s office said a decision would be made after talks with medical groups and the ruling party.

The Korean Nurses Association, which has pushed for the legislation, said nurses have long been subject to hostile work environments and abuses and that the bill would help provide better health care without affecting the interests of doctors and nursing assistants. The South Korean health ministry, which served as the mediator between doctors and nursing groups, blamed the opposition Democratic Party for using its majority in parliament to pass the bill.

On Tuesday, Yoon briefed the members of his cabinet on the details of his trip to the United States last week for a summit with US President Joe Biden, saying that the alliance of the two countries has been upgraded and expanded in different key areas. Washington has sought to assure Seoul that it was protected under the US nuclear umbrella at a time of concerns and calls among people in Yoon’s party for the country to develop its own nuclear arsenal.