A group of medical professors and specialist doctors issued a statement on Sunday, urging the government to respect doctors as its partners and stop threats against trainee doctors.

In the statement warning of a medical collapse, 16 medical professors and doctors at eight major hospitals, including Asan Medical Center and Severance Hospital, revealed their names and hospitals and urged their colleagues to sign the statement in solidarity.

The professors and doctors said that the government’s unilateral pursuit of medical policies is throwing the country’s excellent medical system into chaos.

The statement said that the government has overlooked the excessive burden on medical workers behind cheap medical services while boasting the country’s advanced medical care.

Calling on the government to stop coercive remarks and threats against junior doctors, the professors and doctors said that trainee doctors did not abandon their patients but just gave up their training. The doctors said they deeply sympathized with the junior doctors’ feelings and promised to protect and support them until the end.

They also urged the government to respect doctors as partners in medical reform, warning that the collapse of medical care caused by the government’s hard-line response will ultimately lead to the suffering of the people.”

The doctors and professors called on the government to listen to voices concerning problems that may arise from the sharp rise in the quota, asking the government to pursue reasonable solutions through candid discussion with representatives of the medical community.