The Korean Medical Association(KMA) has slammed President Yoon Suk Yeol's address to the nation on the government's medical reform plans, saying there's no way to resolve the row as the government is set on raising the medical school admissions quota by two-thousand.

Responding to President Yoon's address, the KMA's chief of public relations Kim Sung-geun on Monday said that it's pointless to gather opinions from different groups when the government has a fixed quota. 

Medical school professors and students also criticized the president's speech for being "no different from the government's previous stance," Kim said, adding that there is no need to hold talks.

With the government and the medical community unable to reach an agreement, medical professors have reduced their work schedules to 52 hours a week, along with reducing outpatient services. Some doctors at private practices have also switched to a 40-hour workweek system as of Monday.

This has resulted in a vacuum in the medical system with hospitals unable to accommodate non-critical patients in emergency rooms. Amid growing concern over the medical vacuum caused by the ongoing conflict, health minister Cho Kyoo-hong vowed to mobilize all possible manpower within the current emergency medical care system.