UPDATE - S.Korean medical professors join doctors' protests, begin mass resignations

UPDATES WITH DETAILS ON RESIGNATIONS BY MEDICAL PROFESSORS; CHANGES HEADET, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Serdar Dincel

ISTANBUL (AA) — After weeks of protest by junior doctors and interns, medical professors in South Korea began submitting mass resignations in opposition of a government decision to admit more students into medical school.

Professors at three general hospitals affiliated to Korea University's medical school submitted their resignations, with more of their colleagues "expected to follow suit," Seoul-based Yonhap News reported

More than 11,900 medics have been on walk-off work protest for over a month over the initiative to raise the number of annual medical school admissions by 2,000.

The protest has put massive pressure on health care in the country's where junior doctors play a critical role.

Authorities have opened military health facilities to help manage the patient rush. Many surgeries have been postponed.

Threatening to cancel their licenses, the government had given protesting medical professionals until the end of a two-week deadline on Monday to be back on the job.

However, medical professors joined the protest on Monday, but will carry on their work until their resignations are approved. Many have said they will shorten their working hours.

*Aamir Latif contributed to the story from Pakistan