"Opposing Political Exploitation and Emphasizing Pure Aspects"
Following the statements of the President and the Prime Minister, the National Mokpo University, which is selecting candidate universities through a public contest process as Jeonnam Province pursues the establishment of a medical school, announced its official position on the 23rd.
National Mokpo University stated that the ongoing public contest process does not finalize the establishment of the medical school in Jeonnam Province, but must go through the Ministry of Education's review process.
According to the Enforcement Decree of the Higher Education Act, the establishment of a medical school is decided by the Ministry of Education, so National Mokpo University is only selecting candidate universities through the public contest process and judges that there are no legal issues.
Furthermore, National Mokpo University holds the position that the public contest process should not delay the long-awaited project of establishing a medical school in Jeonnam.
Emphasizing the need to complete the contest and review by September to October to prevent the project, which has been pursued for 34 years, from falling through, they also stressed who would be responsible if this deadline is missed.
(From left) Song Hacheol, President of Mokpo National University; Park Hongryul, Mayor of Mokpo; Moon Chabok, Chairman of Mokpo City Council, are holding a joint press conference regarding the attraction of the National Medical School to Mokpo National University. [Photo by Mokpo National University]
Meanwhile, regarding the claim that the eastern region, with its large population, is a suitable location for establishing a medical school, National Mokpo University understands the population concentration issues in nearby areas and Jeonnam Province’s demands for establishing a medical school at Chonnam National University, but emphasizes the importance of each region’s legitimate rights and project promotion.
Ultimately, National Mokpo University stresses that it only recommends candidate universities through the public contest process, which is cooperation at the request of Jeonnam Province, and that the final decision is made through the Ministry of Education’s review, so there are no legal issues with the current ongoing process.
National Mokpo University judged that the feasibility study report on establishing a medical school in Jeonnam, conducted by Jeonnam Province in 2021, was properly prepared in compliance with research ethics in terms of research process, procedure, and analytical methodology.
Controversy continues over the feasibility study results for establishing a medical school announced in 2021. Stakeholders from the eastern and western regions are raising suspicions about the study and are in conflict with each other.
Stakeholders from the eastern region claim that they participated in the interim and final presentations from the time Seoul National University of Science and Technology was selected as the lead institution and shared the progress of the study in the same manner as the eastern region.
They also emphasized that there were no issues raised about the study results until now and expressed concern over the recent controversy.
In response, National Mokpo University emphasized that the research team made efforts to maintain neutrality and claimed that the study results were derived through official statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the participation of experts.
They particularly stressed that the results were not manipulated to favor the western region and pointed out that such claims violate research ethics and common sense.
Stakeholders from the eastern region argue that the recently announced cost-benefit results were intended to favor a specific region. In response, National Mokpo University emphasized that the results are not unusual compared to previous studies.
National Mokpo University highlights that the research results for the Jeonnam region prove the necessity of a medical school in the area and did not raise objections to the results. They also focus on the low cost-benefit ratio that emerged when three basic local governments, which should have been included in the western region in the 2021 Jeonnam Province study, were excluded.
Although the cost-benefit analysis was conducted through the Ministry of Education’s study, it is regrettable that benefits related to attracting overseas patients were not considered according to KDI guidelines.
Despite Muan Airport and Jeonnam’s excellent accessibility providing important medical services to foreign patients, the exclusion of patients from Vietnam, Thailand, and China remains controversial.
However, National Mokpo University does not object to this because the 2021 Jeonnam study results emphasize the importance of a national medical school in the Jeonnam region.
The university opposes the political exploitation of the establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam through the report and also opposes attributing political meaning to the report.
In this regard, National Mokpo University states that the establishment of a medical school in Jeonnam is essential beyond political interests. Through this stance, the university emphasizes the pure aspect free from political maneuvering and is recognized for contributing to the development of the Jeonnam region and the improvement of medical service quality.
Going forward, National Mokpo University is expected to faithfully adhere to these principles and lead development through mutual cooperation with the local community.
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