Minister Lee Ju-ho and Korean Medical Students Association Dialogue Fails... Ministry of Education "Dialogue Channel Remains Open"

Minister Lee Ju-ho "Let's Discuss Together" Proposal for Dialogue
Passed Deadline of 6 PM on 13th with 'No Response'
Collective Leave of Absence Due to Opposition to Medical School Quota Expansion

Representatives of medical students remained 'silent' in response to the government's proposal for dialogue.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, the Ministry of Education stated, "We have not received any response regarding the dialogue proposal from the three current co-representatives of the Korean Medical Students Association (KMSA) by the deadline of 6 p.m. on the 13th," adding, "Even if the Ministry's contact information and message were not delivered to the three current emergency committee representatives, we would like to inform that the Ministry of Education keeps the channel for dialogue with the KMSA open."

According to the Ministry of Education, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, proposed a dialogue to the Korean Medical Students Association on the 11th. The intention was to discuss with the students the normalization of medical school academic operations and the protection of students' learning rights if they agreed to the dialogue. The deadline for a response was set for 6 p.m. on the 13th.

However, no contact was made. The KMSA claims they never received any communication from the Ministry of Education. In a 'Letter to Members' distributed to medical students nationwide on the same day, they stated, "None of the three co-chairs currently serving as emergency committee leaders have been contacted, nor have we received any official communication directly from the Ministry of Education," adding, "It is difficult to see this as respect for the association or sincerity in dialogue."

In response, the Ministry of Education said, "On the 26th of last month, we obtained contact information after receiving consent for personal information from one of the three co-representatives of the KMSA emergency committee (a former representative)," and "On the 11th, we contacted that number to request a response to the Deputy Prime Minister's proposal for dialogue." The former emergency committee representative who was contacted reportedly replied on the morning of the same day, stating that "since I no longer serve as a representative, I will pass the Ministry's contact information and message to the other representatives," according to the Ministry. There is ongoing controversy over whether the message was effectively delivered.

Medical students are engaging in collective action, including submitting leave of absence applications, in protest against the government's expansion of medical school quotas. According to the Ministry of Education, 511 leave applications were submitted in a single day on the 12th. The cumulative number of leave applications has reached 5,954, which accounts for approximately 31.7% of all enrolled medical students nationwide. The KMSA held an emergency general meeting on the 9th and resolved that all 40 units would request their schools to approve leave applications in accordance with the earliest date on which any school approves such applications. The Ministry of Education has urged schools not to approve these 'strike leaves,' stating that they do not constitute legitimate reasons for leave applications.