Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Wednesday vowed to make efforts to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors throughout talks with a consultative body comprising ruling, opposition parties and the medical community. "If the consultative body is activated, (the medical vacuum) may be resolved sooner," Cho told lawmakers when asked if the doctors' walkout could be resolved by the end of this year. "The government will make efforts to alleviate the situation by year's end," he added. Thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces in the form of a mass resignation since February, with the medical community calling for the government to review the planned hike in the medical school quota from scratch. The government earlier decided to raise medical school seats by 1,500 for 2025 as part of its plan to increase the number of students by around 2,000 over the next five years to address the shortage of doctors. While the government sought a breakthrough by establishing a consultative b ody, the Korea Medical Association, the country's largest group of doctors, boycotted the initiative, calling for the government to scrap the hike plan before engaging in any form of dialogue. The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences and the Korea Association of Medical Colleges, meanwhile, vowed to participate in the body earlier this week. "Although the two organizations do not fully represent the medical community, they can sufficiently convey its stance in detail," Cho said. Source: Yonhap News Agency