Government Submits 47 Medical School Expansion Documents to Court... Decision Expected Next Week

Submission of Documents to the Enforcement Suspension Appeal Court
Agenda and Minutes of the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee
The Court to Decide on Enforcement Suspension by the 17th

The government submitted 47 documents related to the increase in medical school quotas to the court.

On the morning of the 10th, when medical school professors nationwide decided to stop working, patients and their guardians were registering for medical treatment at a large hospital in Seoul. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

According to the legal and medical communities on the 11th, the government submitted 47 documents and 2 separate reference materials to the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 7 (Chief Judge Gu Hoe-geun), which is currently reviewing the injunction appeal.

As announced, the government submitted the agenda and minutes of the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee (HMPDC) to the court.

The HMPDC is a statutory committee that deliberates on major health and medical policies under the Framework Act on Health and Medical Services. It includes demand-side representatives recommended by patient groups, consumers, and workers; supply-side representatives recommended by medical organizations; health and medical experts; and government members.

The government also delivered the meeting results of the "Medical Workforce Expert Committee," established under the HMPDC, to the court. Additionally, it submitted an activity report from the "Medical Education Inspection Team," composed of experts to review the validity of demand surveys from each university.

The submitted materials included the 2025 academic year medical school student quota and recruitment allocation results, a medical school’s quota increase demand data with the name anonymized, and quota application forms.

The government also submitted research reports cited as scientific evidence for the increase of 2,000 medical students, such as the "Comprehensive Plan for Health and Medical Workforce and Mid- to Long-term Supply and Demand Forecast Study," "Study on the Adequacy of Medical Workforce," and "Projection of Labor, Education, and Medical Sector Impact Due to Population Changes Reflecting the 2021 Future Population Forecast."

Furthermore, the materials contained estimates of medical workforce supply and demand as of 2022, mid- to long-term supply and demand forecasts for health and medical personnel (2010, 2015, 2017), and the 2023 elderly statistics from Statistics Korea. A collection of statements made by President Yoon Suk-yeol regarding medical reform was also included as evidence supporting the quota increase.

In addition, press releases from the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, related news articles, and statements from civic groups supporting the medical school quota increase were delivered to the court.

The government also submitted separate reference materials titled "Data Related to the Determination of the Overall Increase Scale" and "Reference Materials Related to Quota Allocation and Subsequent Measures" to the court.

On the previous day, about 40,000 medical students, parents, and doctors submitted a petition to the court requesting the suspension of the effect of the government’s decision to increase and allocate medical school quotas, arguing that the increase is unjust.

The appellate court will review the materials from both sides and decide by the 17th at the latest whether to grant a suspension of the execution of the government’s medical school quota increase and allocation decision.

The court’s ruling will be one of the following: approval to suspend execution ("grant"), rejection of the application ("dismissal"), or dismissal for lack of legal grounds ("dismissal without consideration"). The first trial court decision was dismissal without consideration.