Men who quit their medical training last year in protest of state health care reforms will begin their mandatory military duty in phases from this year through 2028.

According to the defense ministry on Friday, some three-thousand-300 trainee doctors became eligible for military service in 2025 after leaving their training, exceeding the expected number by about 960 men.

The military allows male trainee doctors who have yet to fulfill their mandatory duty to be temporarily exempted during their medical training, if they agree to serve as military or public health doctors.

An official at the ministry said the Military Service Act bars the eligible trainees from choosing to serve as ordinary conscripts, since they were assigned to the medical officer role upon starting their medical internships.

Some 100 resigned trainee doctors, in response, are expected to stage a rally in front of the ministry on Saturday to protest a planned revision to a related directive to classify the excess candidates as “not selected,” requiring them to be on standby.