Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said that the government will handle as favorably as possible trainee doctors who return to work by Sunday, but those who fail to do so will face stern measures.

The minister made the remarks on Sunday, appearing on a KBS program.

Lee said that the government had set last Thursday as the deadline for trainee doctors' return-to-work orders, and some trainee doctors have returned, but it is not enough.

The minister said that people's lives and health cannot be the means for negotiations, stressing that if trainee doctors fail to return, the government plans to take various administrative measures, even legal punishment, according to laws and principles.

Regarding the controversy over the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by two thousand from 2025, Lee said that the number was the result of the government's in-depth discussions with the medical community and civic groups, and close negotiations with the Korean Medical Association and medical schools.

Minister Lee said that dialogue with doctors must continue in any case, but the government will begin talks only after striking doctors return to work.

Lee also said that doctors appear to distrust the government because past governments did not keep their promises to the medical community, emphasizing that the Yoon Suk Yeol government will carry out its promises without fail.