Ministry of Education "Medical School Quota Allocation by End of March... No Change to '2000 Student Increase'"

Medical School Deans Express Concerns Over Increase
Education Ministry: "Over 2,000 Applications Expected"
University Allocations Likely Announced by April

Amid ongoing opposition from the medical community regarding the increase in medical school quotas, the government has begun practical work to allocate the increased quotas. The Ministry of Education plans to receive quota demand applications from each university by April 4 and complete the quota allocation by the end of the month.

Park Seong-min, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said, "We will receive medical school quota demands from each university by March 4, and once the applications come in, we will start the full-scale quota allocation process," adding, "Our goal is to complete the allocation by the end of March as much as possible."

Regarding reports that some medical school deans are considering requesting an extension of the application deadline, he stated, "There has been no official request to the Ministry of Education to postpone the quota increase application deadline as of last weekend," and added, "Even if such opinions are received, the government will not change the plan to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 or to accept applications until March 4."

On the 19th, as concerns over a medical crisis grew with residents at five major domestic hospitals submitting collective resignation letters, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, attended an emergency video conference at the Government Seoul Office with presidents of 40 universities that have medical schools. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Earlier, the Korean Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC) held a press conference on the 19th at the Seoul National University Medical School Education Building, stating, "2,000 is an impossible number to accommodate in a short period considering the educational conditions of the 40 medical colleges and medical schools nationwide," and demanded a scale readjustment. Kim Chang-soo, chairman of the Emergency Measures Committee of the National Medical School Professors Association and professor of preventive medicine at Yonsei University, also said in a phone interview that day, "Application demand cannot be an objective indicator, and the realities of universities, financial capacity, and manpower must be considered," adding, "The previous demand survey was conducted by quickly sending official letters to professors and was only collected at the level of university deans and presidents, not at the field level."

However, spokesperson Park emphasized that the 2,000 increase standard will not change. He explained, "2,000 is the minimum scale from the government's perspective," and added, "Only with 2,000 can we meet the changing demand for doctors and solve problems such as emergency room rotations and shortages of doctors in basic medical fields." Regarding the quota demand applications from each university, he said, "Currently, we expect applications to exceed 2,000." According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last November through 40 medical schools nationwide, the demand for quota increases for the 2025 academic year was in the 2,000 range.

The Ministry of Education plans to complete the formation of an allocation committee to assign the increased quotas to each university within this week. After allocating quotas to each university, the final confirmation and announcement of quotas by university are expected to be completed by the end of April. Universities will revise and announce the 2025 academic year admission guidelines by the end of May after review by the Korea Council for University Education.