The government filed a complaint against key officials of the Korean Medical Association(KMA) with the police for allegedly violating the nation’s medical law. 

According to the health ministry, the complaint was filed against five members of the KMA’s emergency committee on Tuesday.

It marked the first time the government is taking such a measure in the face of collective action that trainee doctors have launched in protest of the government's plan to increase the medical school admissions quota. 

The ministry believes the five KMA officials instigated and abetted the collective action by endorsing the trainee doctors’ move and providing them with legal assistance. 

In the complaint, the ministry is also said to have stated that the collective action hindered the operations of the training hospitals where the trainee doctors who walked off their jobs work. 

The government has urged trainee doctors to return to work by Thursday and that starting from next month, it will be inevitable to suspend licenses and initiate legal proceedings against those who fail to come back to work.