SEOUL • South Korea ordered doctors in the Seoul area to return to work yesterday, warning of tough consequences as medical practitioners began a three-day strike in protest against several government proposals, including one to boost the number of doctors to deal with health crises such as the coronavirus.

Stern action has been promised by President Moon Jae-in, who ordered a response "based on principles of law... to bring the doctors back to the table".

"There can be no compromise when lives and safety of people are at stake," said Mr Moon.

Trainee doctors have been staging ongoing walkouts, and thousands of additional doctors were due to stage a three-day strike starting yesterday.

The government said it would report the striking doctors to a state regulatory body and might also suspend or revoke their licences to practise medicine after three rounds of talks ended without a deal. Criminal charges could also be pursued against the doctors if medical services are disrupted and patients suffer from neglect.

"The government now has no choice but to take necessary legal actions such as an order to open business to not put the citizens' lives and safety in danger," Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said in a briefing. He said the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the Korean Intern Resident Association (Kira) had rejected several of the government's offers.

The strikes come as South Korea battles one of its worst outbreaks of the coronavirus, with 320 new cases reported in the 24 hours to midnight on Tuesday, the latest in more than 11/2 weeks of triple-digit increases.

The walkouts yesterday forced South Korea's five major general hospitals to limit their hours and delay scheduled surgeries, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier in the week, the doctors reached an agreement with the government to continue to handle coronavirus patients, but failed to find a compromise on the broader issues.

KMA said the medical community was always open to all possibilities in talks with the government, and that the doctors did not want to have to strike. "We sincerely do want to return. We ask you citizens to listen to our voice so we can meet our patients as soon as possible."

KMA and Kira members have said they oppose government plans to boost the number of medical students over several years, establish public medical schools, allow government insurance to cover more oriental medicine and introduce more telemedicine options.

The government said its goal to increase the number of medical students by 4,000 over the next 10 years is necessary to better prepare for public health crises like the coronavirus pandemic.

Student doctors, however, said the plan would unnecessarily flood an already competitive market and that the extra funding would be better spent improving the salaries of existing trainees, which would encourage them to move out of Seoul to rural areas where more health professionals are needed.

Meanwhile, a South Korean official said the government is discussing what would need to happen to raise anti-virus measures to the strictest level, but dismissed rumours that such a policy would be announced yesterday.

Mr Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said in a briefing that the government will monitor the situation this week before deciding whether to strengthen social distancing measures to Level 3, from Level 2 currently.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK