Pandemic Is Over, but South Korea's Medical Crisis Has Just Begun

So has the 80.5-hour workweek

안녕, it’s Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder. 🎉 Today’s newsletter is about a bibimbap recipe, why it’s not really safe to travel my country now, and a vocabulary lesson. Let’s start!

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Spicy Cabbage Bibimbap

Spicy Cabbage Bibimbap (10000 recipe)

Did you have a rough week and need something to lift your spirits? How about trying a spicy bibimbap? It not only boosts your mood but also makes it perfect diet food because it’s healthy and low in calories. I found the following super-easy recipe on YouTube and translated it into English for you. Check it out!

For 1 serving,

1. Cook rice.

2. Slice half a small cabbage and rinse it in water.

3. Mix 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar (or allulose if you’re on a diet), 0.5 tablespoons of salt, sesame seeds, and minced garlic with the cabbage.

4. Place cooked rice, drained canned tuna, and the cabbage in a bowl.

5. Top with seaweed, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, pepper, and a fried egg (or boiled egg if you’re on a diet) to complete. And bon appétit 😋

Pandemic Is Over, but South Korea's Medical Crisis Has Just Begun

Doctors are protesting against the government’s plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. (의사신문)

In South Korea, doctors are not just a job but a social status. Only the highest performing students, mostly kids from rich families, can go to medical schools. Raising a kid as a doctor is the highest honor Korean parents can get. Doctors who have clinics in Gangnam area easily make more than millions of dollars a year. There is a saying that you need to prepare three keys to marry a doctor: A car key, a house key, and a clinic key. Being rich and elite, doctors have openly supported conservative presidential candidates and governments, until recently.

In February, the South Korean government announced the plans to increase the number of trainee doctors to address a doctor shortage. They proposed admitting an additional 2,000 medical students starting next year, up from the current 3,058. In response, doctors are vehemently opposing the plans. Nearly 80% of junior doctors of all 99 teaching hospitals in the country walked off their job. About 5,000 medical students are boycotting classes. Medical school professors across the nation joined forces in collective resignations. Consequently, hospital operations and treatments are being disrupted, with emergency units struggling to function with limited staffing.

Many Korean doctors open their own clinics, so they are essentially business owners. More doctors mean more competition and less profit for them. When the previous government tried to increase medical student enrollment by 500, doctors went on strike even in the middle of the pandemic, and the plan was dismissed. Due to the doctors' severe opposition, the doctor shortage couldn’t be solved, even though it ranks among the most acute in the developed world.

Despite the protests, the government is not backing down on its plans. In response to doctor resignations, the government has begun suspending the licenses of those who leave their positions. And they sued senior members of the Korean Association of Doctors for allegedly inciting walkouts among junior doctors and other charges.

While the conflict between the government and the doctors shows no signs of abating, patients are paying the deadly costs of the medical crisis.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor just announced plans to increase working hours to up to 80.5 hours a week, allowing employees to work 11.5 hours a day for seven days. 😇 In response to harsh criticisms of their previous 69-hour workweek plan, the government has added an additional 11.5 hours. 😇😇 It seems we’ll definitely need more doctors in the future.

Mini Korean Lesson: Counting Days

The Los Angeles Dodgers, an American professional baseball team, visited Seoul for the MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024 this week. The players' wives also accompanied them and were seen shopping at Olive Young, a Korean drugstore chain. 👆 A post by an X user commenting on their shopping trip quickly went viral in Korea. The post reads:

“열흘만 일찍 왔어도 올영 세일 기간인데”

This translates to, "It's a pity that they missed the Olive Young sale period by just 10 days." Many Koreans, including myself, often shop at the drugstore during sales, which occur frequently.

In the post, the word “열흘” means “10 days.” There are two ways of counting days in Korean: Sino-Korean (“10 days” in Sino-Korean is “10 일” /sib-il/), and the other is original or traditional Korean. “열흘” is the latter. Koreans frequently use traditional words for counting days in daily conversation. Some commonly used ones are:

1. 하루 /ha-roo/: One day

2. 이틀 /yi-teul/: Two days

3. 사흘 /sa-heul/: Three days

4. 나흘 /na-heul/: Four days

5. 열흘 /yeol-heul/: Ten days

Using these words will enhance your Korean fluency and sound more native! 💪

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