SEOUL, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday the government ordered community doctors to keep providing medical treatment and report to authorities when they close their businesses, after the doctors voted to stage a strike in protest of the government's medical reform. Cho issued the order a day after the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the largest lobby group of community doctors, voted in favor of taking one day off on June 18. Cho said the order is in accordance with a medical law and a "necessary and minimum measure needed to protect the lives and health of the people from the medical community's mass walkout." He said the government will also look into possible violations of fair trade laws against the KMA, as it allegedly encouraged community doctors to stage a strike. "We plan to legally review whether the KMA has violated the Fair Trade Act by instigating collective action," Cho said at a government meeting. South Korea's Fair Trade Act prohibits business associations from unfairly restri cting competition or limiting the activities of individuals. Community doctors who will take the day off are required to report to the authorities by Thursday, officials said. The government will issue another order for community doctors to return to work if more than 30 percent of them join the planned strike. During a separate briefing, Deputy Health Minister Jun Byung-wang said local governments are instructed to order hospitals to maintain operations on June 18. The remark came as the Medical Service Act allows the government to issue such directions if a shutdown is "likely to cause great difficulties in giving medical treatment to patients." "Any medical institutions planning to close on that day are ordered to report to authorities by Thursday," Jun said. "Refusing treatments is an intolerable act that threatens the lives of the people and patients. We have no choice but to take stern actions against the walkout in accordance with the government's constitutional duty," Jun added. Medical profess ors at four major hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University also warned of a walkout next Monday, calling for the government to fully withdraw administrative steps to punish trainee doctors who have left their worksites since late February. "We are currently communicating with the emergency committee of medical professors at Seoul National University Hospital," Jun said. "We are making preparations at the working level for a meeting to address the situation." Cho said the government expresses "deep regret" over the looming collective action, noting it will continue efforts to persuade the medical community. "The government is prepared to engage in dialogue (with the medical community) anytime, in any format," Cho said. Meanwhile, Lim Hyun-taek, who heads the KMA, warned the previous day that next week's rally will become the starting point for stronger protests. The KMA added that it can withdraw the plan should the government fully scrap the medical school quota hike. The government finalized the admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools late last month, marking the first such increase in 27 years. Local patient groups, meanwhile, urged doctors to remain with patients amid the prolonged disruptions in medical services. "It is extreme selfishness that neglects public health while pursuing only their interests," the Korea Severe Disease Association said in a statement. Source: Yonhap News Agency