Agent: "Denial of Examinee's Standing Violates Supreme Court Precedent"... Plans for Immediate Appeal
Second After Professors' Association Among 6 Suspension Cases... One Withdrawn, 3 Remain
Following the National Council of Medical School Professors, the suspension of enforcement requests for medical school quota increases filed by residents, medical students, and exam candidates have been dismissed.
The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 4 (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-jung) dismissed on the 3rd the suspension of enforcement requests filed by 18 individuals including medical school professors, residents, medical students, and exam candidates against the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education regarding the decision to increase and allocate 2,000 medical school quotas for the 2025 academic year.
The court stated, "The direct counterpart of the quota increase is the heads of each university that has a medical school, and the applicants are merely third parties," adding, "There are no provisions in the Higher Education Act or other laws that consider the interests of the applicants, making it difficult to recognize their standing." This means that since there is no specific interest infringed by the medical school quota increase, the applicants do not have the qualification to file administrative lawsuits or suspension of enforcement requests.
Regarding the plaintiffs' claim that they have legal interests such as the interest in providing quality education (professors), the interest in receiving training (residents), the interest in receiving education (medical students), and the interest in receiving stable information to prepare for exams (exam candidates), the court rejected this, stating, "These are merely indirect, factual, or economic interests resulting from this disposition or general, indirect, and abstract interests commonly held by the public." This is similar to the previous dismissal by the same court’s Administrative Division 11 (Presiding Judge Kim Jun-young) of the suspension of enforcement request filed by representatives of the National Council of 33 Medical School Professors the day before.
Attorney Lee Byung-chul of Law Firm Chanjong, representing the plaintiffs, responded, "Denying the standing of exam candidates directly violates Supreme Court precedents," adding, "The Higher Education Act clearly stipulates that the admission guidelines announced 1 year and 10 months before the university entrance examination cannot be changed to provide information about admissions to exam candidates."
He continued, "The court’s reasoning implies that no matter how much the government manipulates admissions or medical affairs, it will ignore the main trial," and stated that, like the previous dismissal, they will immediately appeal to the Seoul High Court. However, he added that the suspension of enforcement request filed by Park Dan, president of the Korean Intern Resident Association (Yonsei University College of Medicine), will be withdrawn as it is clear it will be dismissed due to no quota increase at Yonsei University.
Thus, among the six suspension of enforcement requests filed in opposition to the government’s medical school quota increase policy, two have been dismissed by the court, and one has been withdrawn voluntarily.
Currently, three suspension of enforcement requests filed by five individuals including residents, medical students, and exam candidates, as well as about 13,000 students from 40 medical schools and medical graduate schools nationwide, are pending at the Seoul Administrative Court. These cases are similar in plaintiff composition and the logic for requesting suspension of enforcement to the cases that have been dismissed.
Attorney Lee claimed, "Since the biggest victims of the government’s quota increase and allocation decision are medical students, the cases involving students from 40 medical schools nationwide will ultimately determine not only the standing but also whether the suspension of enforcement is granted."
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