Seoul: Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo called on the medical community Thursday to resume talks with the government to resolve the prolonged deadlock over medical reform. "It is very disappointing and regretful that the government and the medical community are holding no discussion at all at the moment," Park said during a government meeting, urging the doctors' groups to return to the negotiation table.

According to Yonhap News Agency, thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces in the form of a mass resignation since February last year. The medical community has been urging the government to reconsider its planned increase of medical school students. The government had earlier announced plans to increase medical school admissions by 1,500 students for 2025, as part of a broader initiative to raise the total by approximately 10,000 over the next five years to address a shortage of doctors.

Park emphasized that the government has been working to normalize the medical system and resolve difficulties for junior doctors. He addressed concerns that the medical community, trainee doctors, and medical school students are not returning to talks with the government or their jobs to disrupt the education of medical workers and treatment of patients, potentially putting the government in a challenging position to force it into accepting their request. "I hope the concerns are not true and will make sure that such actions are unacceptable," Park stated.

Last month, acting President Choi Sang-mok indicated that the government is open to readjusting the country's medical school admissions quota for next year from scratch. This statement raised hopes for a breakthrough in the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.