South Korea's Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Monday expressed grave concerns about a decision by medical professors to resign en masse in support of junior doctors' walkout that has crippled medical services for nearly a month.
About 90 percent of 13,000 interns and resident doctors have stayed off the job since late February in protest of the government's decision to increase enrollment at medical schools by 2,000 spots from the current 3,058, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) said.
With the labor action by junior doctors showing little signs of backing down, the emergency committee of medical professors announced Friday that faculty members from 16 medical schools will submit resignations en masse on March 25 in an effort to seek a breakthrough in the prolonged impasse.
"Despite the people's concerns and the government's repeated appeals, we express grave concern over making such an announcement," Cho told a government response meeting.
The health minister urged professors to focus their efforts on persuading medical students and junior doctors to return to schools and hospitals, while engaging in discussions to improve the country's medical system.
The government has been pushing to sharply raise the number of medical students to brace for the country's fast-aging population, and a shortage of physicians in rural areas and essential areas, such as pediatrics and emergency departments.