The country's largest medical association on Wednesday hinted at a possible general strike in protest of the government's planned hike in the enrollment quota for medical schools.

During its general meeting of delegates held on Wednesday night, the Korean Medical Association(KMA) said that it will set up an emergency council to block the government's plans.

According to chief of KMA delegates Park Seong-in, the association will form "the strongest emergency committee and sound the alarm to the government over its arrogance through a strong struggle in which all members will participate."

Park added that as collective action is only possible after the formation of an emergency committee, the KMA cannot currently announce when it will hold a general strike.

Meanwhile, in a move to block the potential strike, the health ministry called on training hospitals to reject a collective submission of letters of resignation from residents in order to prevent them from carrying out the strike as non-medical personnel by law.