World News

It's a phenomenon that is happening in many countries around the world. Medical associations pour huge amount of money into lobbying and restrict the number of new doctors to increase their members' individual wealth at the cost of public health. (Medical spending as a whole does not decrease while less number of doctors share that pie)

It's more extreme and visible in South Korea because it is considerably later stage capitalism than some other countries, but the profit motive has been killing people for a long time. Not just in pharmaceutical industry, but from doctors themselves in the form of their associations.

its fairly low yeah, as its really a multi faced problem caused by a lot of factors. given how serious a medical negligent situation can be, practice is highly scrutinized. you also have the other problem countries have where its not necessarily not having enough doctors in a specific field, but ones willing to work in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. getting specialist doctors in rural areas is difficult, and they end up having to do way more worl than what they are qualified for because of it.