"Regional Healthcare Collapsing Due to Medical School Expansion"... National Medical School Professors Protest

Gangwon and Chungbuk National University Hospital Professors' Emergency Committee Claims Deterioration of Educational Conditions and Violation of Learning Rights
Professors Resign One After Another Following Essential Specialty Residents
Government Warns "Legal Action If Residents Refuse Supervision"

With the increase in medical school admission quotas for the 2025 academic year already confirmed, professors at regional national medical schools have come forward to urge the withdrawal of the increase.

The Emergency Response Committee of professors from Kangwon National University Hospital and Chungbuk National University Hospital issued a statement on the 25th, saying, "Currently, Korea's healthcare is in a critical state due to the baseless policy of increasing medical school quotas," and "We solemnly request the Minister of Health and Welfare to cancel the 2025 medical school quota increase." They plan to hold a rally titled 'Cancellation of the 2025 Medical School Quota Increase to Prevent Regional Medical Collapse' on the morning of the 26th at 10 a.m. in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare building in Sejong City, together with representatives of professors and residents, medical students and their parents, and patient organizations.

The Emergency Committees of the two universities argued that "If elementary school teachers who currently teach 49 students per class are asked to teach 132 or 200 students starting next year, what should the teachers and students do?" They claimed that the increase would worsen educational conditions. The number 49 represents the current quota at Kangwon National University and Chungbuk National University medical schools, while 132 and 200 are the quotas expected to increase next year, respectively.

The professor emergency committees explained that due to the government's flawed quota increase policy, residents and medical school professors specializing in essential medical fields, who have been deprived of their right to learn, are leaving hospitals. According to the committees, 10 residents in essential medical fields left Gyeongsang National University Hospital, 6 left Chungbuk National University Hospital, and 3 left Kangwon National University Hospital. Similarly, 10 medical school professors resigned from Chungbuk National University Hospital, and a total of 23 professors at Kangwon National University Hospital have either resigned or are expected to resign.

The professor emergency committees emphasized, "Now, even if residents and students return, it is impossible to provide proper education," and urged, "Cancel the current medical service maintenance orders and forced resident resignation measures, and immediately halt all investigations. Listen to the opinions of frontline medical experts to create policies that revive regional healthcare, and heed the last desperate cries of professors striving to save regional healthcare on the brink of collapse."

Meanwhile, as the recruitment of residents for the second half of the year began on the 22nd to fill the vacancies left by residents who resigned in protest against the increase in medical school quotas, the boycott movement by professors opposing this continues. The Emergency Response Committee of professors from the medical schools of Catholic University, Korea University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, and Ulsan University issued a statement under the names of the chairpersons of the six medical school emergency committees, expressing their difficulty in agreeing to the second half resident recruitment.

The government has stated that it will consider legal measures if professors refuse to supervise residents. Kim Guk-il, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters briefing on doctors' collective actions that "We are considering various possible legal measures regarding the boycott of resident supervision by medical school professors," and "We will do our best to persuade residents to return to training sites in cooperation with training hospitals."