[Breaking News] Supreme Court: "Announcement of Medical School Expansion by Minister of Health and Welfare is Not an Administrative Disposition"... No Reversal or Overturning of Lower Court Decision

The Supreme Court has ultimately rejected the suspension of execution application filed by medical school professors, residents, and medical students seeking to halt the enforcement of the 'Increase of Medical School Quota by 2,000 and Allocation Order.'

The Special Second Division of the Supreme Court on the 19th dismissed the rehearing of the suspension of execution application filed by a total of 18 people, including four professors from Seoul National University College of Medicine, three residents from Yonsei University Hospital, five students from Pusan National University College of Medicine, and six prospective medical students, who requested the suspension of execution of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Minister's 'Announcement of Medical School Quota Increase for the 2025 Academic Year' and the Ministry of Education Minister's 'Allocation of Increased Medical School Quota for the 2025 Academic Year.' The court upheld the original decision of the Seoul High Court, which dismissed the applications of the remaining petitioners and rejected the applications of the medical students.

Previously, the Seoul High Court, which reviewed the appeal case of this application, ruled that the Minister of Education's order to determine the medical school admission quota was directed at the presidents of each university, and therefore medical school professors and residents were considered 'third parties' who did not even have the standing to challenge the order. Although medical students, whose right to learn could be infringed, were recognized as having the right to apply for suspension of execution, the court dismissed the application, stating that for the public welfare of 'medical reform through medical school quota increase,' it was necessary to uphold the public interest even at the expense of partially sacrificing their rights.

The Supreme Court found an issue with the lower court's ruling that recognized the dispositional nature of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Minister's announcement of the medical school quota increase. However, since the conclusion to reject the application was appropriate, the Supreme Court stated it would not overturn the lower court's decision on this basis.

The court explained, "This announcement of quota increase is merely the Ministry of Health and Welfare Minister, who is the head of a related central administrative agency, announcing the content of consultations that the Minister of Education, the respondent, must go through when setting the recruitment quota for medical schools. There is no basis to consider that the Minister of Education is bound by the content of consultations with the Minister of Health and Welfare, so it cannot be seen as affecting the rights and obligations of the people," thereby denying the dispositional nature.

It added, "The actual legal effect of increasing the medical school quota can be seen as occurring externally only through this allocation of increased quota. Therefore, there is no need to separately subject this announcement of quota increase to an appeal lawsuit apart from the allocation of increased quota."

The court concluded, "The application seeking suspension of the effect of this announcement of quota increase is inappropriate and should be dismissed. Therefore, although the lower court erred in rejecting some applicants' requests for suspension of the effect of this announcement, the conclusion to reject the application is justified, and the lower court's decision will not be overturned on this ground."