Lee Han-kyung, Ministry of the Interior and Safety's chief disaster management official, speaks during a government meeting in government complex, Seoul, March 5. Yonhap

The government has secured evidence that about 7,000 trainee doctors remain off the job in defiance of the return-to-work order, an official said Tuesday, suggesting disciplinary action against them is impending.

Lee Han-kyung, the interior ministry's chief disaster management official, made the remarks during a government meeting as the collective action by thousands of intern and resident doctors entered its 15th day.

Some 9,000 trainee doctors walked off their jobs on Feb. 20, protesting the government's plan to add 2,000 more medical school seats starting next year, from the current 3,058.

The government gave protesting doctors until last Thursday to return to work. However, as many doctors continue to remain off their jobs in defiance of the back-to-work order, the government is taking steps to enforce disciplinary action, including the suspension of their medical licenses.

"Since yesterday, the government has been conducting inspections at training hospitals to confirm violations of the back-to-work order by defiant trainee doctors," Lee said.

"On Monday, the government gathered evidence of noncompliance involving some 7,000 trainee doctors and intends to take administrative action against them in accordance with the Medical Service Act," he said.

The official warned that defiant doctors will be held accountable, saying the government intends to deal with them sternly in accordance with the law and principles.

A notice at a city-run hospital in Incheon informs patients of extended service hours, March 4. Yonhap

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters that 8,983 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals left worksites, despite the government's vow to suspend their medical licenses.

Starting Tuesday, the government plans to send documents to the defiant trainee doctors, as an administrative step to suspend their licenses, Park said.

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok said defiant doctors will be dealt with according to law and principles.

"Unless they return to work, we will have no choice but to proceed with the steps mandated by the medical service law," he told reporters during a visit to a prosecutors office in the central county of Hongseong. "Where the medical personnel belong is the emergency room and operation and consulting rooms, just as a fish cannot live out of water."

The mass walkout by trainee doctors appeared to fail to win support from medical schools. According to a government survey on the appropriate medical school enrollment quota, 40 universities surveyed nationwide asked the education ministry for a combined increase of 3,401.

The collective action by trainee doctors, who play a vital role in assisting with surgeries and emergency services at major general hospitals, has resulted in widespread cancellations and delays in surgeries and emergency medical treatment at general hospitals nationwide.

Though the government has begun taking steps to suspend the medical licenses of striking doctors, there has been no significant change in the number of those on the walkout, with 4,252 trainee doctors, or 79 percent, at 47 hospitals in Seoul remaining off the job. (Yonhap)