전공의•전임의 업무개시명령 전국으로 확대…'약 80명 복귀'<br /><br />The South Korean government has applied its return-to-work order to doctors nationwide who are striking in protest against planned healthcare reforms.<br />It has also decided to prosecute doctors who reject the order.<br />Kim Do-yeon reports.<br />The government has decided to prosecute the doctors that did not follow the return-to-work order imposed on Wednesday in the capital area.<br />In addition, it has decided to expand the order nationwide.<br />The health and justice ministries and police held a briefing on Friday morning to discuss the legal actions that will be imposed after they have investigated the doctors that violated Wednesday's order.<br />"With the expansion of the order, we will thoroughly investigate 30 major hospitals in the country. In addition, at 10:30 today, we will file a complaint against the ten doctors who failed to abide by the return-to-work order in the capital area on August 26th.".<br />Under the current legislation, doctors who violated the order could face up to three years in prison or over 25-thousand U.S. dollars in fines<br />They could also have their medical license suspended... or even canceled.<br />The government added that after their field investigation, they found around 80 doctors returned to work due to the order.<br />It also said the main focus at the moment is to beat COVID-19.<br />Reports say that around 68% of interns and residents joined the strike, and while some have returned to work, many of them turned off all means of communication when the order was imposed in the capital.<br />Medical interns and residents went on strike on August 21st over the government's health reform plans, and were joined by doctors nationwide from Wednesday.<br />Amid the lack of medical personnel, a man in his 40s at the city of Busan died on Thursday morning after an ambulance couldn't find an available emergency room in time.<br />Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News<br />
