The health ministry said Monday it had sent prior notices of license suspension to some 5,000 trainee doctors who have defied an order to return to work, in protest of a plan to boost the number of medical students.

Deputy Health Minister Jun Byung-wang told reporters that it completed sending the notices to 4,944 junior doctors last week. When receiving the notices, the doctors will be required to submit their opinions on punitive measures by March 25.

With the government vowing to take legal action against junior doctors making threats to their colleagues, or impeding their return to hospitals, the ministry will open a hotline Tuesday to protect physicians wishing to return, Jun said.

"The government will spare no efforts to help trainee doctors wishing to return to hospitals," Jun said.

As of Friday, 11,994 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals had left their worksites, accounting for some 93 percent of all junior doctors, according to the ministry.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said the government will take lenient measures if trainee doctors return to work before administrative procedures to suspend their licenses are completed.

"As we plan to proactively extend leniency to junior doctors who return before the conclusion of administrative procedures, we encourage their prompt comeback," Cho told a KBS radio.

Local hospitals have been experiencing cancellations and delays in surgeries and emergency medical treatment, as medical interns and residents remained silent to the government's call for them to return by the end of February.

To make up for the shortage of medical staff, the government on Monday began deploying 158 military and public health doctors to local hospitals for a four-week period.

Last week, the health ministry also allowed nurses to perform some roles of doctors, including CPR.

"When necessary, the government plans to deploy more military and public health doctors, along with more state health insurance funds," Cho said.

The government has been pushing to increase physician numbers as a way to resolve the shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as pediatrics and neurosurgery, and also given the super-aging population.

Doctors say the quota hikes will undermine the quality of medical education and other services and result in higher medical costs for patients. They have called for measures to first address the underpaid specialists and improve the legal protection against excessive medical malpractice lawsuits. (Yonhap)