Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong speaks at a government response meeting, April 29. Yonhap

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said Monday that the government plans to deploy more military doctors and other medical staff as senior doctors at five major hospitals in Seoul decided to take a weekly day off starting this week.

The plan was announced as medical professors working for the five major hospitals decided to suspend their work either on a day, or on a weekly basis, in apparent support of a prolonged walkout by junior doctors against the government's plan to hike the number of medical students.

"While it would be challenging for them to fully replace the professors, this measure is intended to minimize disruptions in medical services," Park told reporters.

The five major hospitals in Seoul — Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital — have played a critical role in treating critically ill patients.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong unveiled a similar plan and renewed a pledge to accomplish medical reform, although a mass walkout by trainee doctors has crippled public health services at major hospitals for more than two months.

The government will "further strengthen the emergency treatment system by sending more medical personnel to prevent damage to patients because of sudden resignations or leaves of absence by medical professors," Cho told a government response meeting.

Cho said the government will "unwaveringly push for medical reform," while calling for senior and junior doctors to stop their collective action against the government's plan to hike the number of medical students.

About 12,000 trainee doctors have left their worksites since Feb. 20 in protest of the plan to boost the number of medical students by 2,000, causing delays in medical treatments, with some emergency rooms partially limiting their treatment of critically ill patients.

The government launched a special presidential commission on medical reform Thursday for talks on the issue with the medical community, including doctors.

It also decided to allow universities to decide their quotas by a range of 50 to 100 percent of what the government assigned for next year.

But doctors have rejected the proposals, calling for the government to revisit the issue from scratch.

Park repeated calls for doctors to find progress through talks to resolve the standoff over the hike in medical school admissions.

"The government has a willingness to hold one-on-one dialogues with the medical community," Park said.

Park said the government would increase compensation for treatment of cerebrovascular disease and organ transplants, as part of its efforts to support essential medical fields. (Yonhap)