Medical professors who submitted letters of resignation last month will begin to leave hospitals from Thursday.

The emergency committee of the Medical Professors Association of Korea, a coalition of professors from about 20 medical schools, reaffirmed on Tuesday that medical professors will leave from Thursday as planned. 

The committee stressed that the professors will push ahead with the resignations regardless of the government’s stance on the matter. 

The emergency committee of medical professors at Seoul National University also said professors will depart at their own discretion 30 days after they submitted their resignation letters, adding four members of the committee will leave the hospital next Wednesday. 

The emergency committee of professors at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine affiliated with Asan Medical Center said that the professors will begin to depart from Thursday, while professors who cannot immediately leave the hospital will take a day off each week from May 3.

Second vice health minister Park Min-soo, however, reiterated on Wednesday that the resignations will not be processed automatically, adding that not many resignation letters have been submitted in accordance with due procedures and format, and universities currently have no plans to accept them. 

Amid the protracted standoff, a presidential special committee on medical reform will be launched and will hold its inaugural meeting on Thursday morning in Seoul. The Korea Medical Association and the Korea Intern Resident Association earlier said they would not join the committee.