Medical professors have decided to begin resigning en masse on March 25, following such collective action by trainee doctors and medical students in protest of the government's planned school admissions quota hike.

An emergency steering committee of the medical professors said the decision was reached during an online general meeting Friday night with participation from professors from 20 schools, including Seoul National University and Hanyang University.

The committee said there was overwhelming support for mass resignations from professors at 16 universities where a survey had been completed.

The collective action will be autonomously carried out by professors at each school after March 25, which is the deadline for trainee doctors, who had been notified of the government's license suspension as an administrative action, to state their positions. Another meeting will be held on March 22 to check up on the situation.

The professors, meanwhile, said they will continue to do their best to treat patients at hospitals even after submitting resignations.