Anchor: Marking the first work day after the three-day weekend and past the government's deadline for trainee doctors to return to their posts, the doctors' group and the government are still in a stalemate. The government reaffirmed its firm stance on Monday vowing to suspend the licences of trainee doctors who have ignored the ultimatum. Meanwhile, doctors are protesting and urging the government to reconsider the plan to expand medical school admissions quota. 
Yun So-hyang has more. 

Report: [Sound bite: Medical doctors' protest (Mar. 3 / Seoul)

South Korean doctors from across the nation held a massive rally near the National Assembly in Seoul on Sunday in protest to the government's plan to increase medical school admissions.

The host of the protest said that 40-thousand took part while police said 15-thousand came. 
 
The government's plan calls for raising medical school admissions by two-thousand or 65 percent from the current three-thousand 58 a year. With the increase, the government aims to add ten-thousand additional doctors by 2035.
 
Participating doctors urged the government to reconsider the plan from scratch saying that the nation’s low birthrate should be put into the equation. 

[Sound bite: Park Myung-ha – President, Seoul Medical Association (Korean-English)]
"What we are demanding is to start the discussion from the beginning. The government says it has discussed the issues many times with doctors but it is a lie. The president has been emphasizing the plan to increase medical school quotas by two-thousand and officials have been saying that they won't reconsider the plan. We want the government to go back to the beginning and start earnest negotiations with doctors."
 
In protest of the government's plan to boost the supply of doctors, nearly nine thousand or 72 percent of resident doctors from 100 teaching hospitals had left their jobs.

The health ministry ordered teaching hospitals to not accept the resignations by trainee doctors, warning that those who left their jobs will see their medical licences suspended and can potentially be revoked if they receive criminal punishment. 

Despite the government having issued a strict return-to-work order deadline, less than 600 resident doctors are said to have returned to their posts.  

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Sunday that the government would not yield to the collective action. 

On Monday, Second vice health minister Park Min-soo said in a press briefing that the government will start on-site inspections at hospitals, vowing to take swift, stern measures against key officials in charge of the collective action which has caused confusion at hospitals. 

The vice minister warned that those who defy the return-to-work order may get their licenses suspended for at least three months, which will delay their acquisition of specialist certifications at least by a year.
Yun So-hyang, KBS World Radio News.