An emergency steering committee representing the nation's medical professors welcomed President Yoon Suk Yeol's proposal of holding in-person talks with trainee doctors, under the premise of developing a reasonable plan.
 
In a statement on Wednesday, the committee welcomed Yoon's proposal but stressed that holding talks unconditionally would lack sincerity, calling on the president to suggest putting forth a reasonable plan through consultation with the medical community as a precondition for dialogue.
 
Emphasizing that the push for medical reforms and reinforcement of essential and regional medical care are tasks to be fulfilled by the trainee doctors, the professors added there will be no future for the nation's medical service if the junior doctors can not return to work.
 
Some of the junior doctors who have resigned in protest of the government's planned medical school admissions quota hike reacted with skepticism, calling on the president to hold discussions on live television and not behind closed doors.
 
Others said the doctors should respond to the proposal, stressing the importance of having a communication channel with the government to resolve the prolonged dispute.