Anchor: President Yoon Suk Yeol said his plan to increase annual medical school admissions by two-thousand seats is the minimum needed to reform the nation's healthcare system. Yoon made the remark as he addressed the nation amid the ongoing standoff between the government and medical doctors. 
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: President Yoon Suk Yeol has again made it clear that his government will push ahead with its plan to increase the number of doctors in the nation. 

In a nationally-televised address on Monday, Yoon defended his medical reform measures, which have led more than 90 percent of trainee doctors across the country to resign en masse. 

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)]
"The government's medical reform measures are aimed at creating a medical environment in which all of our citizens can get proper treatment no matter where they live and what kind of illness they have by strengthening essential health services and regional medical capabilities. We need more doctors for this. If the number of doctors cannot be increased without the consent of doctors, even though it is to protect the lives and health of citizens, I have to ask, 'What are the lives of our citizens worth?’"

The government is planning on hiking the medical school admissions quota by two-thousand a year starting in 2025, an increase of around 60 percent of the number of students admitted to medical schools annually.  

Yoon argued that although the nation will see the total number of doctors rise by 20-thousand 20 years after his plan is put in place, the demand for medical services will be greater in the aged society, and doctors’ income will not fall down the road. 

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)] 
"Resident doctors have been continuing their illegal collective action for nearly 50 days since they left their medical worksites. The only reason they are doing this is to prevent the increase in the supply of doctors. If the opposition is due to a [potential] drop in their future income, they do not have to worry about that." 

The news conference came as a growing number of the nation's medical school professors are submitting their resignations while the main doctors association is threatening to launch an all-out strike in protest of Yoon's medical reform measures. 

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)]
"Over the last 27 years, no government has been able to increase the doctor supply and carry out medical reforms, which 90 percent of the public supported. Previous governments lost nine times after nine fights as the professional cartel of doctors grew stronger. We cannot repeat such failures anymore."  

As the general elections are fast approaching next week, Monday's speech lasted for over 50 minutes with the president providing detailed counterarguments to what he called "the professional cartel of doctors" and apologizing to the Korean public for failing to resolve the current feud swiftly.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.