Mokpo National University Requests Nationwide Support and Encouragement for the Establishment of the College of Medicine

Mokpo National University Collaborates Jointly with Jeonnam Province and Suncheon National University

National Mokpo University (President Song Ha-cheol) conducted a campaign on the afternoon of the 8th at Mokpo Station to raise awareness about the necessity of establishing a medical school in Jeollanam-do in celebration of the Lunar New Year holiday.

According to Mokpo University on the 11th, about 40 people, including National Assembly member Kim Won-i, Mokpo Mayor Park Hong-ryul, officials from Jeonnam Province and the Jeonnam Provincial Council, Mokpo City and the Mokpo City Council, and National Mokpo University, explained the medical conditions in Jeonnam and the need for establishing a medical school to returning visitors and local residents at Mokpo Station, requesting nationwide support and encouragement.

On the afternoon of the 8th at 2 PM, a campaign was held at Mokpo Station to promote the necessity of establishing a medical school in Jeollanam-do.
[Photo by Mokpo National University]

Jeollanam-do is the only province among all cities and provinces nationwide without a medical school and lacks a system for training and supplying medical personnel. In particular, due to the rapid decrease in public health doctors, establishing a medical school in Jeollanam-do is essential to respond to medical service gaps in medically vulnerable areas such as island regions and rural fishing villages.

The government announced on the 6th that it plans to expand the medical school quota by 2,000 students, which had been frozen at 3,058 since 2006, and apply the expanded quota starting from the 2025 academic year admissions; however, no official stance on establishing new medical schools has yet been made.

Cha Joo-hwan, Director of Planning at National Mokpo University, said, “The most urgent issue is to prevent medical service gaps and regional extinction by establishing a national medical school that can stably secure essential medical personnel and serve as the command center for regional public healthcare.” He added, “Our university will do its utmost in joint cooperation with Jeonnam Province, National Suncheon University, and others until the day the national medical school is established.”