Daegyo Association Unanimously Approves Original Plan
Medical School Quota to Increase by 1,509 Next Year
Daegyo Association to Announce on 30th, Universities to Publicize on 31st
Medical Community: "Should Postpone Until Supreme Court Decision"
The Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) has reviewed and approved the university admission plan for next year, confirming the first increase in medical school admissions in 27 years. However, the medical community is opposing this, citing reasons such as the Supreme Court's re-appeal review and the rejection of some university regulation amendments, and insists that the increase should be put on hold.
On the 24th, KCUE held the 2nd University Admission Committee meeting of the year at the Conference House Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul, and approved the changes to the 2025 university admission implementation plan, including the admission quota for 39 medical schools nationwide, as originally proposed.
Including Cha University of Medicine, a graduate medical school, the number of medical school admissions next year will be 4,567, an increase of 1,509 from the previous year. This is the first increase in medical school quotas since 1998, after 27 years.
At the meeting, the committee members unanimously approved the changes to the university admission implementation plan. Oh Deok-seong, president of Woosong University and chair of the University Admission Committee, told reporters, "We discussed how to implement the admission screening methods regarding the quota adjustment plan decided by the Ministry of Education," adding, "We unanimously agreed and approved the proposals submitted by each university, focusing on regional talent selection and flexible methods to recruit students as much as possible."
Earlier, the government announced plans to increase the current medical school quota of 3,058 to 5,058, an increase of about 2,000 students. However, due to opposition from the medical community, universities were allowed to recruit 50-100% of the increased quota autonomously for next year's university admissions only. Accordingly, universities decided to recruit only 1,509 of the 2,000 increased quota this year and submitted the changes reflecting the medical school quota increase to KCUE, which had already been announced in last year's university admission implementation plan for next year.
The Ministry of Education and KCUE plan to announce detailed information such as the ratio of regular to early admissions and the selection ratio for regional talent by the 30th of this month. Each university plans to publish the early admission guidelines reflecting this on their websites by the 31st.
Although the medical school quota increase procedure is practically in its final stage, the medical community continues to oppose it. On this day, the Korean Association of Medical School Professors (KAMSP) issued a statement titled "Request to the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court," asking the Supreme Court to "exercise its authority to direct the lawsuit to suspend the implementation plan and the announcement of admission guidelines until the Supreme Court's final decision."
Earlier, on the 16th, the Seoul High Court dismissed and rejected the second trial for the suspension of the medical school quota increase. In response, KAMSP requested a re-appeal to the Supreme Court, which began reviewing the case on the 21st. Legal circles expect that the Supreme Court may make a decision within this month as it has quickly started the review.
Last-minute difficulties are also continuing within universities. Among nine national universities, four have either rejected or postponed amendments to their academic regulations. Kyungpook National University rejected the amendment at its council meeting the day before. Jeju National University also held a faculty council meeting on the same day to reconsider the amendment but decided to postpone the agenda. Gyeongsang National University and Jeonbuk National University rejected the academic regulation amendments reflecting the medical school quota increase at their respective faculty and university councils on the 22nd.
However, the Ministry of Education maintains that the admission procedures for next year can proceed with the increased quota even if the academic regulation amendments at each university are not finalized. This is because, under the Higher Education Act, the university president holds the final authority. The ministry also plans to request corrective orders and administrative measures for universities that have not amended their regulations by the end of this month. Regarding the Supreme Court decision, the Ministry of Education explained that related procedures cannot be delayed for the sake of admission stability.
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