Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said the government will announce the first-round enforcement plan for medical school admissions quota expansion as soon as early September.

At a parliamentary hearing on Friday, Cho said the government will seek institutional support to ensure that the increased number of doctors reside and offer medical service outside the capital region, thereby mitigating the shortage of personnel in regional and public medicine.

Stressing that the shortage in essential medicine stems from a delay in medical reforms, the minister pledged to actively seek measures toward alleviation.

When the head of a patients' group, who appeared as a witness, claimed only about 30 percent of patients suffering a serious illness are receiving normal medical service amid the doctors' collective walkout, the minister promised to consider a systematic investigation of damages experienced by the patients.

In response to concerns that the quality of medical training could decline amid the quota hike, the minister pledged to work with the education ministry to reflect such concerns when drawing up a related budget for next year.