The Medical Professors Association of Korea has called for the dismissal of health minister Cho Kyoo-hong and second vice health minister Park Min-soo.

In a statement issued on Monday, the association said it wants Cho and Park to be removed from office as it claims that the two officials have made reckless remarks while covering the eyes of the people and those in the top office. 

The association said it also wants to engage in a dialogue without preconditions and wants  reasonable medical policies that are based on scientific grounds. 

The statement comes after a group of medical professors decided last Friday to begin resigning en masse from March 25, following collective action by trainee doctors and medical students in protest of the government's planned school admissions quota hike.

The decision was reached during an emergency steering committee of the medical professors that saw the participation from professors from 20 schools, including Seoul National University and Hanyang University.

The committee said there was overwhelming support for mass resignations from professors at 16 universities where a survey had been completed.

The collective action will be autonomously carried out by professors at each school from March 25, which is the deadline for trainee doctors, who had been notified of the government's license suspension as an administrative action, to state their positions. Another meeting will be held on March 22 to check up on the situation.