Prime Minister Han Duck-soo says the government is aware of the difficulties facing nurses and other medical workers but denounced their decision to go on strike, calling the upcoming general strike an “extreme action.”

The prime minister made the remarks Tuesday in a meeting with concerned ministers at the government complex in Seoul. 

Nurses and medical workers at 61 hospitals across the nation were set to go on strike Thursday. 

Han expressed disappointment that the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union had voted in favor of a general strike, considering the resurgence of COVID-19 and a prolonged medical crisis in the country. Trainee doctors walked off the job in February and still have not returned to work. 

The government is working to ensure the swift passage in parliament of the Nursing Act, a law that will stipulate the roles and duties of licensed nurses, Han said. The law will also include specific measures to improve working conditions for nurses and other medical workers, he added. 

The prime minister urged nurses and other medical workers to call off the strike, saying now was the time to join forces to achieve medical reforms.