A total of 6,415 South Korean trainee doctors at 100 hospitals have submitted their resignations in protest of the government's plan to boost the number of medical students, Yonhap reported on Tuesday, citing the country's health ministry.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the ministry ordered 757 trainee doctors to return to work, with tensions between doctors and the government spiking over the plan to add 2,000 to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, Yonhap said.