Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong has called on medical groups to scrap their walkout plans protesting the National Assembly’s passage of the Nursing Act.

Cho on Friday visited Severance Hospital in Seoul and inspected potential disruptions to emergency medical services and asked them to desist from launching a strike.

He said that seamless coordination between doctors, nurses and paramedics is especially critical in emergency rooms and urged medical personnel to protect people's lives and public health.

The health ministry on Thursday set up a related task force and on Friday morning also issued a level one crisis alert in response to the planned general strike. 

Earlier, a dozen health care and medical organizations said they will begin partial strikes next week and swiftly finalize a date for a full scale walkout.

The announcement came hours after parliament passed legislation that specifies the scope of nurses’ duties as well as revisions to the medical law stripping physicians of their licenses if they are slapped with prison sentences.