For more than a week, procedures at some of the largest hospitals in South Korea have been disrupted because thousands of medical interns and residents walked off their jobs. A prolonged walkout could have disastrous consequences.
一个多星期以来，韩国一些最大医院的手术中断，原因是数以千计的实习医生和住院医生罢工。一场长期罢工可能造成灾难性的后果。

The dispute started in early February, when the government proposed admitting more students to medical schools to address a longstanding shortage of physicians in South Korea. Interns and residents, known as trainee doctors, countered by saying that the shortage was not industrywide but confined to particular specialties, like emergency care. They said the government’s plan would not solve that problem, adding that they were victims of a system rife with harsh working conditions and low wages.
这场争端始于2月初，当时政府提议医学院招收更多学生，以解决韩国长期以来医生短缺的问题。实习医生和住院医生——也就是“受训医生”——反驳说，短缺并不是全行业的，而是局限于急诊等特定专业。他们说，政府的计划无法解决这一问题，并称在这个深受恶劣工作条件和低工资所困的体制里，他们是受害者。

The doctors then took to the streets to the protest the plan, threatening to strike or quit their jobs. By and large, senior doctors backed their younger colleagues’ claims. But with surveys showing broad public support for beefing up the ranks of physicians, the government did not budge. Some saw the doctors’ pushback as a tactic to increase their paychecks.
医生们随后走上街头抗议该计划，威胁罢工或辞职。资深医生基本上支持年轻同事的主张。但调查显示，公众广泛支持加强医生队伍，因此政府没有让步。一些人认为医生的反对是一种提高工资的策略。

Trainee doctors — who are a crucial part of large hospitals — started submitting their resignations on Feb. 19. As of Wednesday, nearly 10,000, or about 10 percent of all doctors in the country, had done so, according to government data. But most of these resignations have not been accepted by hospitals.
受训医生是大医院的重要组成部分，他们从2月19日开始提交辞呈。政府数据显示，截至周三，已有近一万名医生提交辞呈，约占全国医生总数的10%。但这些辞职大多没有被医院接受。

“It is impossible to justify collective action that takes people’s health hostage and threatens their lives and safety,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told reporters on Tuesday.
总统尹锡悦周二对记者说：“以人民健康为要挟，威胁人民生命安全的集体行动不可能是合理的。”

His government has said that if the doctors return to their jobs by Thursday, they would not face any legal repercussions. Otherwise they could risk losing their medical licenses and face fines of up to 30 million won ($22,000). The Health Ministry this week filed police complaints against a handful of doctors, accusing them of violating medical law.
其政府表示，如果医生们在周四之前重返工作岗位，他们将不会面临任何法律后果。否则，他们可能会被吊销行医执照，并面临最高3000万韩元（约合16万人民币）的罚款。卫生部本周向警方报告称几名医生违反了医疗法。

As of Thursday morning, nearly 300 doctors had returned to work, according to the ministry. But with most trainee doctors still off the job, the dispute shows no signs of resolution.
卫生部称，截至周四上午，已有近300名医生重返工作岗位。但由于多数受训医生仍未恢复工作，这场纠纷没有解决的迹象。

Here’s what you need to know.
以下是你需要了解的信息。

What is the situation in the hospitals now?
目前医院情况如何？

Many medical procedures have been pushed back. Patients have been told at the last minute that their appointments have been delayed indefinitely. Some have been redirected to smaller clinics. The government has temporarily allowed hospitals to let nurses fill in for doctors when appropriate. Nonetheless, many major hospitals remain short-staffed, generating complaints from the public.
许多医疗操作已被推迟。病人在最后一刻被告知预约无限期推迟。一些人被转到较小的诊所。政府暂时允许医院在适当的时候让护士代替医生。尽管如此，许多大医院仍然人手不足，这引起了公众的不满。

One case this week was used by both sides to bolster their argument. A woman in her 80s with terminal cancer was turned away by several emergency rooms after her heart stopped beating, with hospitals saying they were at capacity. When she finally was admitted, she was declared dead on arrival.
本周，双方都用一个案例来支持他们的论点。一名80多岁的癌症晚期妇女在心脏停止跳动后被几家急诊室拒之门外，医院称收治能力已经达到极限。等到她最终入院时已经被宣布死亡。

For the government and its supporters, it showed how a shortage of physicians could be fatal for patients — even though a government investigation concluded that the woman’s death had no correlation to the doctors’ walkout.
对政府及其支持者来说，这表明医生短缺对病人来说可能是致命的——尽管一项政府调查得出的结论是，这名女性的死亡与医生的罢工无关。

For the doctors, it was the clearest sign of a structural problem that has long overburdened emergency care in South Korea. The country’s medical system allows patients with minor injuries or illnesses to seek treatment at emergency rooms, using resources that should instead go to patients in severe or critical condition, doctors claim.
对医生们来说，这是结构性问题的最明显表现，长期以来，韩国的急救服务负担过重。医生称，该国的医疗系统允许轻伤或疾病的患者在急诊室寻求治疗，占用了本应用于病情严重或危急患者的资源。

What has the government proposed?
政府提出了什么建议？

The need for more doctors in South Korea is acute, the government says, especially given its rapidly aging population. It has about 2.6 doctors for every 1,000 people, compared with an average of 3.7 in the countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
政府表示，韩国急需更多医生，尤其是考虑到该国迅速老龄化的人口。韩国每1000人中约有2.6名医生，而经济合作与发展组织成员国的平均水平为3.7名。

Earlier this month, the Health Ministry proposed increasing medical school admissions to about 5,000 students a year, from 3,000, starting in 2025. It would be the first increase since 2006 and, the government said, would mean an extra 10,000 doctors in a decade. The government also pledged to spend over 10 trillion won to improve essential services throughout the country, especially health care in rural areas.
本月早些时候，韩国保健福祉部提议，从2025年开始，将医学院的招生人数从每年3000人增加到5000人左右。这将是自2006年以来的首次增加，政府表示，这将意味着在10年内增加一万名医生。政府还承诺花费超过10万亿韩元来改善全国的基本服务，尤其是农村地区的医疗保健。

Doctors argue that increasing the number of medical students will do little to change the status quo. A similar attempt by Mr. Yoon’s predecessor, in 2020, to increase the number of doctors resulted in a physician walkout that lasted a month. The government ended up shelving the expansion.
医生们认为，增加医学生的数量对改变现状无济于事。2020年，尹锡悦的前任曾试图增加医生数量，结果导致持续了一个月的医生罢工。政府最终搁置了扩招计划。

What do the doctors want?
医生们想要什么？

Interns and residents have a long list of grievances. While some established doctors in South Korea are well paid, doctors in training say they work long hours for little pay even though they are the linchpins of the country’s medical system. Interns and residents make around $3,000 a month and often work more than 80 hours a week, according to the medical community. Young doctors often make up a third or more of the work force in some of the major hospitals, and often provide the first line of care for patients.
实习和住院医生有很多不满。虽然韩国一些知名医生的收入很高，但正在接受培训的医生表示，尽管他们是韩国医疗体系的关键，但他们的工作时间很长，工资很低。根据医学界的说法，实习和住院医生每月的收入约为2.15万人民币，每周工作时间通常超过80小时。在一些大医院，年轻医生往往占劳动力的三分之一或更多，他们通常在第一线为病人提供服务。

They say the government has ignored structural issues that make some specializations like cosmetic surgery and dermatology more lucrative than vital services like emergency and pediatrics. The Korean Medical Association and the Korean Intern and Resident Association, two of the nation’s largest groups of doctors, have demanded better working conditions for young doctors in essential services, more equal pay across all specializations and the retraction of the expanded medical school admissions cap.
他们说，政府忽视了一些结构性问题，使得整形外科和皮肤科等专科比急诊和儿科等重要服务的收入更高。全国最大的医生团体韩国医学协会和韩国实习医师协会提出了要求，要为从事基本服务的年轻医生提供更好的工作条件，为所有专科提供更平等的薪酬，并要求取消医科大学入学的扩招。

Under current conditions, it is “impossible for doctors to take care of patients with a sense of mission,” Joo Soo-ho, a spokesman of the Korean Medical Association said on Tuesday.
韩国医学协会发言人朱秀浩（音）周二表示，在目前的情况下，“医生不可能带着使命感照顾病人。”

Is there a political element to the dispute?
这场争端有政治因素吗？

The plan to increase the number of medical students enjoys widespread support among South Koreans, according to surveys. In one, as many as 76 percent of respondents backed the government’s plan.
调查显示，增加医学生人数的计划在韩国得到了广泛支持。在一项调查中，多达76%的受访者支持政府的计划。

The proposal to increase medical school admissions is part of a wider health care policy plan that was announced by President Yoon months before a crucial parliamentary election in April. His approval rating has inched up as he has stood his ground against the doctors.
尹锡悦在4月关键的国会选举前几个月宣布了一项全面医疗保健政策计划，增加医学院招生人数的提议是该计划的一部分。在拒绝向医生让步的同时，他的支持率有所上升。

For most of his two years in office, Mr. Yoon has struggled with low approval ratings, rising consumer prices and scandals connected to his wife, his policies and his handling of disasters. By pushing through changes that his predecessor had tried but failed to implement in the face of resistance from doctors, Mr. Yoon is hoping to improve his profile in an election year.
在上任两年的大部分时间里，尹锡悦一直疲于应对低支持率、物价不断上涨以及与他的妻子、他的政策和他的救灾处置有关的丑闻。他的前任曾试图推行改革，但由于医生的抵制而未能实施。尹锡悦希望通过实现这些改革来改善自己在选举年的形象。

Choe Sang-Hun对本文有报道贡献。

Jin Yu Young自首尔报道韩国、亚太地区和世界范围内的突发新闻。

翻译：晋其角