An old photo of hospital staff demonstrating in central China has surfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it showed South Korean doctors on strike. The posts gained traction as thousands of junior doctors protested over medical training reforms in an escalating standoff with the government. However, the photo has circulated since January 2015, when staff at a hospital in China’s Henan province gathered following the death of a doctor who was killed in a fight at the hospital.
“These doctors pulled this stunt and paralysed the medical system to maintain their salaries of hundreds of millions of won,” reads Korean-language text on a photo shared on Facebook on February 28.
“You’ll face divine retribution.”
The photo shows a long queue of people in a car park who appear to be wearing blue and white medical garb.
The photo circulated as thousands of South Korean doctors protested in an escalating standoff with the government over medical training reforms.
Around 10,000 junior doctors — about 80 percent of the trainee workforce — walked out in February to protest hikes to medical school admissions meant to combat shortages and an ageing society.
The government said on March 4 it will take steps to suspend the licences of striking professionals who have defied orders to return to work.
The photo was shared in similar posts on Facebook here, here and here, and on South Korea’s Naver Band forum.
Some social media users appeared to believe it showed the striking South Korean doctors.
“These thieves only think of patients as sources of cash,” one user commented. “Doctors are well educated but lack morals.”
“They studied this hard only to become slaves of money? I wish they’d look back at their lives,” another said.
While the striking doctors have genuinely held rallies to oppose the government’s reforms, the photo in fact shows medical workers in China demonstrating in 2015 (archived links here and here).
Chinese hospital staff march
A reverse image search on Google found the photo in an article from January 27, 2015 by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper (archived link).
According to the report, staff at Luanchuan County People’s Hospital in China’s Henan province held a march to mourn orthopaedic surgeon Jia Binbin, who was killed during a row with a drunken man whose cousin was being treated at the hospital.
“During the tussle, the two men slammed into a lift door, which was thrown open, and both men fell from the 15th floor to the first floor, where the lift was stationary,” it says.
The article shared various photos that it said showed doctors and nurses holding banners mourning Jia and condemning “violent attacks on doctors”.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo shared in false posts (left) and the photo from the SCMP’s 2015 article (right):
A search on Chinese search engine Baidu found the photo in another report about the demonstration published on January 27, 2015 by a maternal and child health channel on Weibo (archived link).
AFP confirmed the location of the photo thanks to Baidu Maps imagery from Luanchuan County People’s Hospital car park, which corresponds to the SCMP’s photo.
A structure behind a small white fence in the top-left corner of the photo (below in red) and steps to the right of the photo (below in yellow) correspond to Baidu Maps imagery of a security office at the hospital car park’s entrance and steps at the hospital’s entrance.
A different photo of the demonstration from the SCMP’s article matches Baidu Maps imagery taken down the road from the hospital, on Junshan East Road. Corresponding visual features include flags (below in yellow), laundrette (in green) and a sign for the Jun Shan Hotel (in red).
Signup bonus from
