Military Exercises and Medical Strikes in East Asia Amid Provocations from China and North Korea

Rewritten article: The White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has announced a new multi-year military exercise plan involving the United States, Japan and South Korea in response to provocations from China and North Korea. Meanwhile, police searched the office of an incoming leader of a medical association in South Korea over accusations that he incited prolonged walkouts by thousands of interns and residents. Lim Hyun-taek, who is set to be inaugurated as head of the Korean Medical Association next week, called the raid politically motivated and questioned whether the government was sincere about its offer for dialogue to end strikes. Police confiscated his mobile phone along with other unspecified materials from both Lim’s office in Seoul and residence in Asan during Friday’s operation. Doctors protested against a government plan aimed at adding more doctors because South Korea has one of the world’s fastest aging populations, but critics say those aren’t the real reasons behind their protests and that they simply worry about lower income for themselves if there are fewer doctors in greater competition performing unnecessary treatments due to an abrupt increase. More than 10,000 interns and residents at major university hospitals walked off the job earlier this year over concerns regarding a government plan to raise medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 starting next year from its current cap of 3,058. The strikes have caused numerous cancellations and delays in surgeries and other treatments at their respective hospitals. Senior doctors working with striking junior doctors also threatened to resign due to overwork after departures by some of those involved left gaps to be filled on staff. Jun Byung Wang from South Korea’s Health Ministry urged them not leave their patients as the government had found no plans for these offers being accepted at other facilities, but he called senior doctor’s moves “regrettable.”