{"id":2204252,"date":"2024-03-15T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T23:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2204252"},"modified":"2024-03-15T10:40:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T01:40:48","slug":"south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea&#8217;s government will allocate $987 million (1.3 trillion won) over five years to enhance pediatric care and reduce hospitalization costs for children under two. Interior minister Lee Sang-min <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20240314041800530?section=society\/all&amp;site=topnews01\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the decision during a meeting addressing the ongoing collective action by doctors, pledging to ensure children\u2019s access to hospitals during off-hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lee emphasized the government\u2019s commitment to prioritizing public health, strengthening emergency medical systems and minimizing disruptions amid the medical residents\u2019 collective action. He also highlighted public support for expanding medical school admissions and the government\u2019s efforts to reform the healthcare system through workforce expansion, regional and essential medical service improvements and creating better working conditions for doctors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea faces a critical shortage of pediatric doctors, with only <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.khidi.or.kr\/board\/view?pageNum=2&amp;rowCnt=20&amp;no1=2308&amp;linkId=48877141&amp;menuId=MENU01499&amp;maxIndex=00488779799998&amp;minIndex=00488728959998&amp;schType=0&amp;schText=&amp;schStartDate=&amp;schEndDate=&amp;boardStyle=&amp;categoryId=&amp;continent=&amp;country=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2.5 doctors per 1,000 people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the lowest among OECD countries. This scarcity leads to delays in care and limited access to emergency services for children. Medical trainees and pediatricians are increasingly avoiding the field due to low incomes, challenging parent interactions and a declining pediatric patient base, which results from the country\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/why-more-and-more-south-koreans-are-choosing-not-to-have-children\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">low birth rate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Without intervention, the shortage could worsen, with a projected deficit of over <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/10\/why-a-critical-shortage-of-doctors-in-south-korea-has-sparked-a-national-debate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">27,000 doctors by 2035<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, over 90% of the country\u2019s 13,000 intern and resident doctors have walked off their jobs at general hospitals nationwide for over three weeks in protest of the government\u2019s plan to expand medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 seats starting next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Yoon administration&#8217;s 1.3 trillion won allocation comes amid numerous <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/south-korea-plans-to-lift-military-protection-zones-in-economic-drive\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pledges<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/yoons-plan-to-ease-greenbelt-regulations-promises-jobs-poses-risks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">initiatives<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the weeks leading up to the parliamentary elections. The main opposition Democratic Party has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theminjoo.kr\/main\/sub\/news\/view.php?brd=11&amp;post=1202752\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">accused<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the government of using populist measures to sway voters, raising questions about the timing and motives behind the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/culture-society\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Culture &amp; Society<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korea&#8217;s government will allocate $987 million (1.3 trillion won) over five years to enhance pediatric care and reduce hospitalization costs for children under two. Interior minister Lee Sang-min announced the decision during a meeting addressing the ongoing collective action by doctors, pledging to ensure children\u2019s access to hospitals during off-hours. Lee emphasized the government\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2204253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[25,27],"class_list":["post-2204252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-culture-society","tag-domestic-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea&#8217;s government will allocate $987 million (1.3 trillion won) over five years to enhance pediatric care and reduce hospitalization costs for children under two. 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Lee emphasized the government\u2019s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-14T23:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-15T01:40:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-8.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnleenknews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"johnleenknews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9766dba611638edc06a6e0b7078714d\"},\"headline\":\"South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-14T23:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-15T01:40:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-8.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Culture &amp; Society\",\"Domestic Politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Briefings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\",\"name\":\"South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage - KOREA PRO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-8.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-14T23:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-15T01:40:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-8.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-8.png\",\"width\":1870,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-pledges-significant-boost-for-pediatric-care-amid-doctor-shortage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"South Korea pledges significant boost for pediatric care amid doctor shortage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\",\"name\":\"KOREA PRO\",\"description\":\"Be smart about South Korea. 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