Medical professors, trainee doctors, and students of Seoul National University hold a protest at Seoul National University on June 17. Yonhap

Medical professors at hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) began an indefinite walkout on Monday, warning that they will call off the walkout only if the government readjusts a hike of medical school admissions and fully withdraws punitive steps against trainee doctors.

About 55 percent, or 529, of the professors at the four hospitals — SNU Hospital, SNU Bundang Hospital, Seoul Metropolitan Government SNU Boramae Medical Center, and SNU Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center — have pledged to walk off the job.

"The walkout is not just for trainee doctors and medical students," said Bang Jae-seung, a senior official from the emergency committee of SNU medical professors.

"The collapse of the medical system has already begun, and we will do whatever is necessary," he added.

The committee demanded the government fully scrap all administrative orders issued against trainee doctors who have left hospitals since February, and establish a permanent platform for the medical community and the government to reflect on-field opinions on medical policies.

If the government also readjusts the medical school quota for next year, the committee is willing to end the walkout and engage in dialogue, it added.

Despite fierce protests by trainee doctors, the government finalized an admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools late last month, marking the first such increase in 27 years.

"We are not suspending all treatments entirely. We are only halting treatments for patients who can receive care at other hospitals or whose conditions will not be adversely affected by a temporary delay in treatment," the committee earlier said, noting emergency rooms and treatments for critically ill patients will not be affected.

"If the operation rate of surgeries when there were trainee doctors was 100 percent, the figure had fallen to 60 percent until now, and was adjusted to 30 percent this week," said Kang Hee-kyung, who leads the committee.

A doctor walks into Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, June 16. Yonhap

A patients' advocacy group urged SNU medical professors to withdraw the walkout, highlighting that patients with non-critical symptoms are just as concerned as those with serious conditions.

"Taking advantage of patients' concerns and damage to press the government cannot be justified under any circumstances," the Korea Alliance of Patients Organization said in a statement.

The organization added that patients' safety may be at stake if medical professors launch a walkout, as medical services have already been disrupted due to the strike of junior doctors, which has lasted for nearly four months.

Meanwhile, the government urged SNU hospital leaders not to authorize the walkout and to consider requiring professors to compensate for losses incurred by the hospitals due to the collective action.

The walkout by SNU medical professors came a day ahead of a nationwide strike of community doctors scheduled for Tuesday, organized by the Korea Medical Association (KMA), the country's top lobby group of doctors.

The government has ordered community doctors to continue providing medical treatment and report to authorities if they close their practices on the day of the strike. It will issue another order for community doctors to return if more than 30 percent of them join the planned strike.

On the previous day, the KMA announced it would consider postponing the walkout if the government agrees to restart discussions on the medical school quota increase from scratch and cancels all administrative orders issued against trainee doctors who have left hospitals since February.

The health ministry, however, dismissed the request, noting it is "inappropriate for the KMA to make policy demands to the government under the condition of an illegal walkout." (Yonhap)