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Medical workers at a university hospital in Incheon on Mar. 11, the beginning of the third week of medical interns and residents refusing to work in protest of government policies. (Yonhap News)

With close to 12,000 medical interns and residents on strike, the Korean government has finished notifying around 5,000 of the trainee doctors that their medical licenses may soon be suspended.

Seoul has also dispatched doctors from the military and public health centers to major hospitals and has agreed to operate a call center to protect trainee doctors who have returned to work or would like to.

“We’re sending out prior notification about administrative penalties to trainee doctors who are in violation of the back-to-work order,” said Chun Byung-wang, head of medical policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, during a briefing of the government’s emergency task force on the doctors’ collective action on Monday.

As of 11 am on Mar. 8, 11,994 (92.9%) of 12,912 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals were boycotting work or had abandoned their contracts. On Mar. 8, the Ministry of Health and Welfare had notified 4,944 trainee doctors defying back-to-work orders about their potential suspension. The Health Ministry is now working on sending out similar notices to the other striking doctors.

The ministry also said it had assigned 20 military doctors and 138 public health doctors, or 158 altogether, to 20 major hospitals to make up for medical personnel shortages caused by the doctors’ mass resignations. After training, the newly assigned doctors will begin providing care on Wednesday.

The ministry plans to dispatch 200 more public health doctors to various hospitals as early as next week.

“We’re working on deploying the second batch of public health doctors next week if at all possible, but the timing remains fluid,” explained Jung Tong-ryoung, a public health policy officer at the ministry.

In a related development, professors at various medical schools around the country are setting up emergency action committees and discussing ways to address the potential professional setbacks facing trainee doctors who are submitting collective resignations and medical students who are boycotting class in solidarity with the trainee doctors.

By Kim Yoon-ju, staff reporter

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