The government has reaffirmed its intent to take legal action against trainee doctors who refuse to halt their collective action and return to work by Thursday.

Presiding over a meeting on responses to doctors’ collective action on Tuesday, health and welfare minister Cho Kyu-hong said that this week the government will conduct on-site inspections of the 50 teaching hospitals ranked 51st to 100th in the number of trainee doctors. Inspectors will be tasked with checking which trainee doctors have left their workplaces.

The minister said starting March, it will start to suspend licenses and initiate legal proceedings against those who do not return. 

Minister Cho said that the government will respond to illegal collective action in accordance with the law, asking trainee doctors who walked off their jobs to return by Thursday.

He added that if they return to their hospitals by Thursday, they will not be punished for their collective action. 

Cho also said that his ministry has been discussing the enactment of a special law on medical accidents since last October, adding the government will ensure medical personnel who have subscribed to liability insurance will be exempt from criminal prosecution for medical accidents.