Busan National University 'Medical School Expansion' Injunction Dismissed...All 8 Cases Dismissed in First Trial

A suspension of execution request filed by professors, residents, and medical students of Pusan National University College of Medicine in opposition to the government’s plan to increase medical school quotas was dismissed. With this, all eight suspension of execution requests filed by the medical community at the Seoul Administrative Court were dismissed at the first instance.

The appearance of a medical school in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Administrative Division 4 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Kim Jeong-jung) dismissed on the 21st the suspension of execution request filed by 196 individuals including professors, residents, and students of Pusan National University College of Medicine against the Ministers of Health and Welfare and Education regarding the decision to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 students for the 2025 academic year. A dismissal is a decision to end the trial without examining the merits when the lawsuit requirements are not met or the claim is not subject to judgment.

The court stated the reason for dismissal, saying, “It is difficult to find that the applicants have standing to seek the suspension of execution in this case.” The court judged, “There is no circumstance to consider that the applicants have any individual, direct, and concrete interest protected under the Higher Education Act or related laws, which are the legal basis for the disposition in this case.”

Regarding the standing of the medical student applicants, the court said, “There may be concerns that the applicants’ educational environment could deteriorate compared to before due to the increase in medical school admission quotas,” but added, “This arises from university educational conditions and should be resolved through securing adequate teaching facilities and an appropriate number of faculty members.” It further stated, “Such disadvantages are not a direct interest related to the increase in admission quotas, but only an indirect and factual interest,” and “It is difficult to consider that the increase has practically blocked or rendered ineffective the current students’ opportunities to participate in existing educational facilities.”

With the dismissal decision on this day, all eight suspension of execution requests filed by the medical side at the first instance court to stop the government’s decision to increase medical school quotas were dismissed. The medical side has appealed all the first-instance dismissals. This case is also expected to be appealed.