Medical professors of Seoul National University Hospital(SNUH) will launch a collective action, indefinitely suspending patient treatment starting Monday in protest of the government’s medical reforms. 

To reinforce the emergency medical care system during the walkout, the government will operate a nationwide on-call system from Monday to ensure emergency care around the clock.

The government also asked hospital chiefs to consider compensation claims if they suffer any damages from the medical professors’ collective walkout. 

According to the emergency committee of the medical college of Seoul National University(SNU) and SNUH, 529 professors, or around 54-point-seven percent of professors offering patient services, vowed to indefinitely suspend outpatient and nonessential patient services from Monday. Treatment of emergency and critically ill patients, however, will continue.

The surgery room operation rate among the four SNU-affiliated hospitals in the capital region is expected to drop from the current 62-point-seven to 33-point-five percent.

The Korean Medical Association(KMA), the country’s largest doctors’ group, plans to stage a one-day suspension of services on Tuesday.