South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Tuesday that there is "no negotiation or compromise" to raise the medical school admission quota by 2,000 seats next year, Yonhap reported.

The South Korean government earlier said that it would conduct an on-site inspection of 50 hospitals this week to probe into work stoppages by trainee doctors, and warned to take legal action against doctors not returning to work.

As of Monday night, about 9,000 trainee doctors had left worksites for an eighth day in protest of the plan.

South Korean Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said that trainee doctors would face legal punishment unless they go back to work by Thursday, according to Yonhap.

South Korea has been pushing to expand medical student enrollment to address the doctor shortage issue, while doctors argue that the government should rather focus on protecting them from malpractice suits and improving compensation.