It's complicated by the fact that SK has some of the highest patient to doctor ratios in the developed world. They sorely need more doctors, especially as their population continues to age.

An ideal solution, in my mind, would have been to offer the doctors pay increases alongside the increased admissions. As it is now, to the doctors, the increased admissions can't seem to be anything other than downward pressure on wages.

However, right wing governments rarely give any concessions to organized labor, regardless of the consequences, which I fear in this case may be quite dire, as the strikes were highly concentrated, especially in Seoul.