The government is pushing a plan to allow foreign medical license holders to practice medicine in Korea during the "severe" stage of the healthcare crisis.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that it has put the “Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Medical Service Act” to this effect to a prior legislative notice and will collect opinions until May 20.

According to Article 18 of the Enforcement Rules of the Medical Service Act (Medical Practice by Foreign Licensees), foreigners who hold a medical license can perform the following tasks with the approval of the Minister of Health and Welfare: exchange professor’s work as part of educational or technical cooperation with foreign countries; work for educational research projects; and medical service work as international medical volunteer groups.

The amendment has added “medical support” to the list of tasks that foreign doctors can perform to the extent deemed necessary by the Minister of Health and Welfare when a crisis warning of the "severe-stage” healthcare crisis is issued under the Basic Law on Disaster and Safety Management.

"The purpose of the amendment is to protect the health and lives of the public by allowing foreign medical license holders to protect medical services with the approval of the Minister of Health and Welfare to respond to medical gaps caused by a shortage of medical personnel during a healthcare disaster crisis," the ministry explained.

The ministry issued a "warning" for the healthcare disaster crisis on Feb. 6, following a backlash from the medical community after the government announced an increase in the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000.

On Feb. 23, when the resignations of medical residents began in earnest, the ministry raised the alert to "severe" and has since been operating the Central Disaster and Safety Measures Headquarters to deal with doctors' collective action.