On Monday, trainee doctors at Korea’s so-called “Big 5” hospitals submitted a wave of resignations, despite the government’s threat to suspend their medical licenses if they do not return to work.

The five largest hospitals are Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital, and St. Mary's Seoul Hospital -- all located in Seoul. 

The hospitals said they found it difficult to keep a precise count of resignations because trainee physicians submitted them "individually."

A Severance Hospital official described the situation to Korea Biomedical Review, saying, "Residents are submitting their resignation letters by department and individually, making it impossible for the hospital to keep track of the resignations on a daily basis."

This has led to significant delays in important surgical schedules, added the official.

However, he stressed that the emergency room, treatment room, inpatient room, and outpatient clinic are operating normally.

Samsung Medical Center referred to the current atmosphere as "the calm before the storm," with an official stating, "The atmosphere itself is no different from usual. Because the resignations are happening individually, it's hard to see how things are moving under the surface."

The Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, which started seeing interns’ resignations last week, is now reportedly experiencing resignations of residents. 

"Residents are currently submitting their resignation letters, and we are continuously monitoring the situation and asking for patients' understanding by the department," an official at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital said.

Government threatens to suspend medical license 

In response to the looming medical care crisis, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a stern message criticizing the Korean Medical Association (KMA) for allegedly inciting the collective action. 

"We issued a treatment maintenance order to all 221 training hospitals nationwide, demanding all residents not to leave their posts," the health ministry said.

Later in the afternoon on Monday, the government issued preliminary notices of administrative action, specifically suspension of medical licenses, to two leaders of the KMA.

The ministry explained that it sent these notices to the two KMA leaders because they allegedly violated the government's order against organizing collective actions among doctors.

Earlier on Monday morning, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also expressed his concerns, stating, "If the collective action is fully initiated, the government will operate emergency rooms 24/7 across 409 emergency medical institutions and is prepared to deploy military doctors and public health doctors if necessary."

He further emphasized the government's stance by saying, "The government decided for the future of Korea as if doctors are not sufficiently increased, regions and essential medical fields will not last long and will collapse."

Regarding the military's involvement, the Ministry of Defense also plans to open emergency rooms in military hospitals to the public.

"In the event of a continued strike by the civilian medical community, based on inter-departmental measures, we plan to open the emergency rooms of 12 military hospitals, including the National Armed Forces Capital Hospital, to support emergency patient care," a defense ministry spokesperson said.

The National Police Agency also weighed in, with Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun saying that the agency will quickly and strictly investigate any accusations of collective action by doctors against the expansion of medical school quotas, and will even consider arresting the ringleaders.

Civic and patient groups tell doctors to put patients first

Meanwhile, civic groups have begun to mobilize against collective action. The Citizens Coalition for Economics and Justice announced plans to report doctors participating in the collective service stoppage to the Fair Trade Commission, describing the action as "collusion."

The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union is also planning a national candlelight action to condemn the doctors' collective action and push for the normalization of medical services.

The patient community also expressed deep concern about the escalating conflict between the government and the medical community.

The Korean Lung Cancer Patient Organization Chairman, Lee Kun-joo, highlighted the risks of a widening healthcare service gap due to the mass resignation of young resident doctors. 

“There should be no excuse for doctors to leave patients unattended and unable to get urgent surgery or treatment,” Lee said on Monday through the organization's official YouTube channel. “Already some media reports have speculated that lung cancer patients will be denied surgery and hospital care will be disrupted.”

The authorities and the KMA should immediately resume negotiations and reach an amicable settlement based on mutual understanding and cooperation, Lee added. 

Lee stressed that life-saving medical work must not be neglected for anything.