Medical staffs walk past a patient at a university hospital in Seoul, May 8. Yonhap

Protracted walkouts by trainee doctors are feared to cause a shortage of fellow doctors next year as their labor action against the government's medical reform has dragged on for nearly three months, according to health ministry officials Wednesday.

About 12,000 trainee doctors have left their worksites since Feb. 20 in protest of the government's push to boost the number of medical students. Unless they are trained at hospitals for more than three months, they will not be eligible for next year's test to become fellow doctors.

Officials at the health ministry and the medical community have predicted that trainee doctors must return to hospitals by around May 20 if they want to apply for the test to become fellow doctors.

"It is correct that the training vacuum should not exceed three months if the trainee doctors want to take the examination to become fellow doctors next year," a health ministry official said.

A total of 2,910 medical residents, who are believed to be among the striking trainee doctors, are eligible for the test to become fellow doctors next year, according to the ministry.

Experts warn that delays in training specialists could trigger a domino effect, disrupting the supply of military and public health doctors as well.

"As the training program for junior doctors is operated on an annual basis, it is inevitable for a chain reaction to occur once a delay begins," said a medical professor at a major hospital in Seoul.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo chairs an emergency response meeting in Seoul, May 8, in this photo released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Yonhap

Chances for talks between the medical community and health authorities, meanwhile, continued to remain slim, with the Seoul High Court ordering the government to submit minutes and other documents to verify that the decision to increase the number of medical school students by 2,000 was based on scientific grounds.

Doctors raised suspicions that the minutes may not exist, although the government claimed that all required meetings were documented.

During a press briefing, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo expressed regret over the ongoing lawsuits filed by doctors against government officials, including himself.

"Amid the illegal collective walkout by junior doctors, it is regrettable that there are prevailing lawsuits and accusations against the government," Park said. "We urge trainee doctors to promptly return to their worksites in order to resolve the medical vacuum and normalize hospital operations."

On Tuesday, a group of doctors filed accusations against Park, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials for allegedly neglecting duty and destroying public records. (Yonhap)