Trainee doctors who resigned in protest of the previous administration's plan to expand medical school admissions are set to return to hospitals this week.

According to medical sources on Sunday, recruitment for the second half of the year was largely completed last week, with newly selected junior doctors scheduled to begin training on Monday.

Their return comes approximately 18 months after they left their posts in February of last year, opposing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's proposal to increase medical school admissions by two thousand students.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is expected to announce the exact number of returning trainee doctors in the coming days.

Application rates at the so-called "Big Five" hospitals in the capital region ranged from 60 to 80 percent, compared to lower rates of 50 to 60 percent at hospitals outside the metropolitan area.