The South Korean government is investigating the death of a woman that may be related to the walkout by more than 9,000 trainee doctors, which has led to people being turned away from emergency rooms and surgery cancellations.
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday that an on-site investigation is being done regarding the death of a woman in her 80s from an apparent cardiac arrest. The Yonhap news agency and other local media reported she was being transported by ambulance and denied entry to seven hospitals due to factors such as a lack of doctors. She finally arrived at a facility that would accept her and was pronounced dead upon arrival, Yonhap said.
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration earlier gave doctors until Thursday to end their walkout without facing reprisals. The trainee doctors are protesting a government plan to increase the number of seats at medical schools by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to alleviate a doctor shortage that ranks as one of the most acute in the developed world.