'230% Increase' Gyeongbuk National University President... Yoon: "Full Support, Don't Worry"

President Hong Won-hwa "Concerns Over Decline in Education Quality"
Promises Active Support Including Facility Investment

President Yoon Suk-yeol promised active support in response to the appeal from the president of Kyungpook National University, who said that even if they want to increase the medical school quota by about 230%, there is a shortage of lecture rooms and faculty members.

President Yoon made this statement on the 4th during the 16th "Public Discussion on Livelihood with the People" held at Kyungpook National University.

At the discussion, Hong Won-hwa, president of Kyungpook National University, said, "We currently have 110 medical school entrants and plan to increase this by 140 to 250 students and apply for support from the Ministry of Education," adding, "This is a 230% increase under the current education system, and there is some resistance fearing that the quality of education might decline, so we are working on persuading them."

Earlier, President Hong revealed in a media interview plans to increase the quota from 110 to 250?300 students, but conflicts arose as the medical school dean and faculty council within the university publicly opposed the expansion.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Hong said, "There is no lecture room that can accommodate 130 people. We want to apply for an increase of 300?400 students, but there is no space available," and added, "Not only hardware such as practice, research, and learning spaces but also securing enough faculty and staff responsible for education is necessary. I earnestly ask the president for interest and support."

In response, President Yoon said, "Earlier, Director Lee Geun-young of the Gyeongbuk Economic Promotion Agency mentioned that it would be good if a large hospital like those in the metropolitan area were built in Daegu, but a hospital is not just about buildings and facilities; a large hospital means having sufficient excellent medical staff."

He continued, "The president of Kyungpook National University asked the government to actively support increasing the medical school quota by 230% to train many good doctors, and we will actively support that. Please do not worry," he said.

President Yoon emphasized, "Kyungpook National University College of Medicine and Kyungpook National University Hospital are top-level medical institutions in our country, so we will not spare any support."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education's demand survey for medical school quota increases, targeting 40 universities nationwide operating medical schools, will close at midnight today. The demand tally is expected to be completed by tomorrow morning. After the demand survey is finalized, the Ministry of Education plans to complete the allocation of medical school quotas as early as the end of this month.