SEOUL – South Korean trainee doctors continued their walkout on March 2, with little sign of them returning to work, as a global body of physicians supported their protest against a government plan to increase medical school intakes.

Almost 9,000 trainee doctors remain off the job, defying a government ultimatum, while only 565 have so far returned, Yonhap news agency reported on March 2.

Calls to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for confirmation went unanswered.

The government gave trainee doctors until the end of February to end the almost two-week walkout that it says has led to people being turned away from understaffed emergency rooms and the cancellations of about half of operations.

The Korean Medical Association is planning a rally in Seoul on March 3 to oppose the government plan to increase the number of medical school seats by 2,000, from the current 3,058.

The World Medical Association issued a statement supporting the local association, contending that the government decision to increase enrolment has been “implemented without clear evidence”.

The South Korean ministry issued a rebuttal on March 2, saying it had consulted the medical community more than 130 times and calculated the size of the increase on the needs of medical schools and long-term demand projections.

Earlier, the ministry released a public notice saying that some of the doctors have been ordered to return to work, potentially paving the way for disciplinary measures. BLOOMBERG