Wonkang University Medical School Deans Appeal to President to "Hold Off Medical School Expansion"

The dean team of Wonkwang University College of Medicine appealed to President Park Seong-tae to postpone the increase in medical school admissions for the next year.

Wonkang University Medical Center exterior.
[Photo by Wonkang University]

On the 27th, the deans of Wonkwang University College of Medicine stated in an appeal letter to the president, “If the increased quota is entered into the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) system, the last chance to prevent the medical crisis and the collapse of medical education caused by the demand for an increase of 2,000 medical students will be lost,” and urged, “Please make a wise decision.”

They added, “Regional private universities are relatively disadvantaged in government support,” and “We empathize with the situation of universities facing critical projects such as the Glocal University 30 Project and the Bio Special Zone, which are matters of survival for the university.”

The dean team further stated, “However, if the increase proceeds as it is, students and residents will not be able to return to their original positions,” and “The academic disruption of medical schools is obvious, and hospitals will face difficulties in management and manpower shortages, making their very existence difficult.”

They then urged, “We ask the president to persuade the university administration to postpone the increase in medical school admissions and select students only within the existing quota, making a decision to normalize medical education and recover from hospital management difficulties.”

Previously, Wonkwang University was allocated a total of 150 medical school admissions for the 2025 academic year, an increase of 57 from the current 93, by the government.

The government allowed each university to autonomously decide the number of medical school admissions for the next year within the range of 50% to 100% of the increased quota. Accordingly, each university must decide the number of new students and submit it to the KCUE by the 30th. Wonkwang University’s medical school quota has increased from 93 to 150.

Currently, key officials at Wonkwang University are discussing the scale of the increase in medical school admissions for the 2025 academic year, centered around President Park.