Not many" medical school professors involved in actual teaching have submitted resignations, the education ministry said Monday, amid concerns their resignations, if they take effect, could further worsen the medical vacuum caused by a walkout by trainee doctors. A ministry official also stressed that the resignations will not take effect unless university presidents accept them and no resignations have been accepted, rejecting an argument from some experts that the resignations are supposed to automatically take effect on Thursday, one month after their submissions. Starting on March 25, medical professors began submitting their resignations and reducing work hours in support of the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors protesting the government's hike of the annual medical school quota by 2,000 seats. Concerns have arisen that the medical vacuum caused by the walkout may take a further blow starting Thursday, which marks one month since the professors submitted resignations. Some have claimed that the re signations will take legal effect after the elapse of one month even without approval from their employers. During a press briefing on Monday, an education ministry official said that the number of medical school professors who had submitted resignations was "not many" and no resignations by such professors had been granted by their schools. The statistics excluded university hospital doctors who hold the title of professors and are employed by hospital chiefs to administer to patients, the official said. The official said the civil law granting automatic resignations one month after the resignation submission would be "difficult" to apply in practice in this case, countering concerns about a potential worsening of the medical paralysis. "Even if medical professors had submitted resignations, they will not be processed without approval from the employers, the university chiefs," the official said. Source: Yonhap News Agency