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SEOUL -- Since taking office, South Korea's president has been beleaguered by a sluggish economy and a corruption scandal involving his wife. Ahead of his first major electoral test next month, he may have engineered a sorely needed political victory by taking on an unlikely foe: his country's overworked doctors.
The administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol last month announced plans to increase the number of spots at medical schools by 2,000 -- a roughly 67% increase. Yoon argues that the boost is necessary to solve long-standing problems such as shortages of practitioners in rural areas and in certain areas of medicine such as pediatrics.