The health ministry said Thursday that it will fully expand telemedicine services and mobilize assistant nurses if a major association of trainee doctors pushes ahead with a nationwide strike in protest of a plan to boost the number of medical students.

Tension between doctors and the government has grown over last week's decision to add 2,000 to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, a sharp rise from the current 3,058 seats.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told MBC radio that the ministry will "fully expand telemedicine treatment and seek to help physician assistant nurses play a more active role" if the group of intern and resident doctors stages a strike.

The government has prepared to cope with the looming strike by trainee doctors, including plans to use military and public hospitals to respond to emergency medical services, Park said.

Although the government says the hike in the medical enrollment quota is needed to address a shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential medical fields, doctors say such a hike may aggravate problems associated with an oversupply of medical personnel in the market.

Also on Thursday, the Korean Medical Association, another major lobbying group of doctors, plans to hold nationwide rallies to protest against the planned hike in medical school enrollment quota.

The KMA, which has threatened to stage a nationwide strike, is set to hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss its actions.

Meanwhile, Park Dan, the head of the Korea Intern Resident Association, said he will step down as a doctor and the association's head to protest against the planned hike.

In a bid to block the potential strike, the health ministry ordered training hospitals to reject a collective submission of letters of resignation from residents, to block them from carrying out the strike as non-medical personnel by law.

Unless they step down legally as doctors, the residents must return to work if the government issues an administrative order because doctors are classified as essential workers. (Yonhap)