As the Korean Medical Association(KMA) is set to conduct a vote on collective action through midnight Friday, an emergency committee of medical professors said it would decide on fully suspending medical services in accordance with the outcome of the vote.

Choi Chang-min, head of the professors' committee representing professors from 20 medical schools nationwide, told Yonhap News that the group will reach its final decision on Sunday, when the KMA is set to announce its vote results.

With higher-than-expected 49-point-54 percent of 129-thousand-200 KMA members having cast their ballots as of 11 a.m. Friday, the doctors' group could possibly decide to support the move, which then could incite the professors to take their own collective action.

On Thursday, professors at Seoul National University and hospitals ramped up pressure on the government to completely withdraw its return-to-work order for trainee doctors, who have taken a collective action in protest of the medical school admissions quota hike.

While the SNU and SNUH professors announced they would otherwise suspend treatment from June 17, with the exception of patients in emergency rooms and intensive care units, similar moves are reportedly being reviewed by professors at other "Big Five" general hospitals in Seoul.