The government said it will unveil a roadmap of specific tasks for medical reform by the end of August, including revision bills and fiscal investment.

Interior minister Lee Sang-min announced the plan on Thursday in a government meeting on the collective action taken by doctors, saying medical reform is a task that cannot be postponed any longer.

Lee said the government has been operating a trial program to reduce working hours for trainee doctors since May and plans to launch a reform program for top-tier general hospitals in September. 

With regard to the medical school admissions quota hike, the minister revealed that recruits from medical schools outside the capital region will account for 77-point-four percent of the increased quota. He said the move will strengthen the functions of essential medical services of local general hospitals and foster hospitals specializing in heart and pediatric diseases. 

Lee also called for trainee doctors to return to hospitals, reiterating that the government has dropped all punitive measures against trainee doctors who left their worksites and revised administrative rules to allow them to apply for training courses in September.