In response to the doctors' walkout, South Korea to file a lawsuit

The health minister of South Korea declared that hospital inspections will begin and that trainee physicians who have disregarded a directive to end their walkout will face legal repercussions.

Since February 20, around 9,000 resident and intern physicians, or almost 70% of all physicians in the nation, have taken a walkout. This has caused several procedures and treatments to be canceled and put a load on emergency rooms.

In the event that the protesting trainee physicians did not return to work by the end of last month, the government had threatened to punish them administratively and legally, which could have included suspension of their medical licenses, fines, or even a jail sentence.

When considering any action against doctors who participated in protests and went back to work, the government would take into account mitigating circumstances, according to Cho.

Afterwards, Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo announced that the medical licenses of about 7,000 trainee doctors who had quit their positions would be suspended by the government.

Patients outside a major Seoul hospital expressed concerns to Reuters about the potential effects of a protracted standoff on medical care and demanded negotiations to guarantee a speedy resolution.

There hasn't been much indication of a retreat on either side thus far. In defiance of official requests that trainee physicians return to work, thousands of South Korean doctors staged a large-scale demonstration on Sunday under the sponsorship of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), which represents private practitioners.

In a statement released on Sunday, the World Medical Association, an organization that represents doctors, said that it firmly denounced the actions of the Korean government in trying to silence the opinions of elected officials within the Korean Medical Association and that it upheld doctors' rights to engage in collective action, including strikes.