The South Korean government issued a return-to-work order for private practitioners on Tuesday as more doctors including medical professors join the months-long strike to protest increasing medical school admissions.
The government will strictly enforce regulations against medical institutions that closed illegally, the health ministry said in a statement.
Around 4% of some 36,000 private clinics had notified the government of plans to be closed on Tuesday to take part in the protest, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said.
But about 5,379 medical institutions were closed nationwide, or 14.9% of 36,059 institutions that were checked, as of 4pm on Tuesday, the health ministry confirmed.
President Yoon Suk-yeol said the doctors’ strike was “regretful and disappointing”.
“(The government) has no choice but to sternly deal with the illegal acts neglecting patients,” Yoon said during a cabinet meeting, while offering to work together if the doctors return to work.
Under the law, doctors defying the return-to-work order can face suspension of their licences or other legal repercussions.