The heads of medical schools nationwide reaffirmed Friday their plans to reverse the annual admissions quota for medical schools to what it was before this year -- 3,058 -- beginning in 2026, assuring medical students who have taken leaves of absence en masse that the government's previous hike plan will be scrapped if they return to the classroom.
In a written letter to the students, 40 universities with teaching hospitals assured that the quota would be fixed at 3,058 for next year, down from 5,058 for the 2025 academic year, and that schools would be prepared to deliver quality education.
The letter is apparently aimed at mitigating students' criticism in response to the 40 universities' joint announcement Wednesday that they would reject medical students’ leave of absence requests and possibly expel them, should they refuse to return.
The Korea Association of Medical Colleges’ student association claimed Thursday that the legally submitted leaves of absence for their voluntary break requests remain valid, adding that it will take all possible legal action if any unfair treatment occurs.
Yonsei University College of Medicine’s Emergency Committee -- consisting of Yonsei University medical professors -- backed the students, insisting that students' rights to take leaves of absence be guaranteed.
The Emergency Committee said it would protect Yonsei medical students from any unfair disadvantages.
On Thursday, the Korean Medical Association also criticized the universities based on the view that the announcement threatening to expel the students can be considered a form of coercion.
The doctor’s association indicated that if student expulsion becomes a reality, it will take all possible measures to fight back, including protests, rallies, strikes or slowdowns.
On March 7, the South Korean government announced a conditional reversal from suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's push to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 to 5,058 students starting in 2025, on the premise that protesting students on leaves of absence return to school.
Yoon's quota hike plan, announced in February 2024, has been met with fierce resistance from the medical community, with medical students taking leaves and junior doctors at teaching hospitals walking off the job in opposition to the plan for over a year now.
Amid repeated failed attempts by the government, the students have not returned to the classroom.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Administrative Court on Friday dismissed the Medical Professors Association of Korea’s complaint filed against the health minister’s announcement to increase the 2025 medical school enrollment quota.
Thirty-three councils of the Medical Professors Association of Korea had filed a complaint against Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong in March 2024, arguing that the minister does not have the authority to decide the number of medical school students according to the Higher Education Act.
A dismissal means that the complaint or its claims did not meet the requirements to open a trial.
The Medical Professors Association also filed for a separate suspension of the government’s increase in the annual medical student quota. But the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling, dismissing the association’s appeal in June 2024.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
