SOUTH KOREAN junior doctors rallied in Seoul today vowing to continue a strike against government plans to recruit more medical students.

On Wednesday, the government ordered striking doctors to return to work or face legal action — with penalties of up to three years in prison or fines up to 30 million won (£18,000) on the cards.

But over 9,000 of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors have submitted resignations to their hospitals, and nearly 8,000 have walked off the job, seriously disrupting hospital care and forcing the cancellation of thousands of operations.