Seoul, Jan 9 (IANS): South Korea's health ministry on Thursday expressed hope for engaging in talks with the new head of the country's top doctors' lobby group amid a prolonged deadlock over medical reform.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo made the remark during a government meeting, following the election of Kim Taek-woo as the new head of the Korean Medical Association the previous day, reports Yonhap news agency.

Kim has been vocal in his hawkish stance against increasing the medical school quota. "We hope to hold face-to-face talks to promptly address the conflict between the government and the medical community," Park said.

"The public wishes for the normalisation of the country's medical system, and I believe the government and the medical community share a common consensus," Park added.

Kim, on the other hand, emphasised the need for the government to make a proactive change in its stance.

"The president who pushed forward the policy is currently absent, and it has been revealed the medical reform plan was flawed," Kim said upon his election. "The government should stop being stubborn and put an end to the policy."

Thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces due to mass resignations since February last year, with the medical community urging the government to reconsider the planned hike in the medical school quota from scratch.

However, local emergency rooms were operating without major disruptions despite the challenging circumstances.

The government decided to increase the number of medical school seats by 1,500 for 2025, as part of a broader plan to raise the total by around 2,000 over the next five years to address a doctor shortage.