KMA: "Medical School Expansion Should Be Canceled Until 2026 and Discussed Starting 2027"

Conditions Proposed for Participation in the Ruling and Opposition Party Legislative Council

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) stated that for the medical community to participate in the 'Ruling and Opposition Parties and Government Consultation Body' proposed by the ruling party, the plans to increase medical school quotas in 2025 and 2026 must be scrapped, and discussions should be resumed starting from the 2027 quota.

According to Yonhap News on the 8th, a KMA official said, "It is common sense that rapidly increasing medical school quotas is problematic, and if increasing the quotas is truly justified, it is only natural to discuss the increase starting from 2027 or later."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The official added, "Once the consultation body is formed, they will discuss the appropriate number of medical school quota increases, but for the discussion results to be reflected in admissions, the 2025 and 2026 quota increases should be considered null and void for now, and it would be meaningful to start discussions from at least the 2027 quota."

When asked if scrapping the medical school quota increases and resuming discussions from the 2027 quota is a condition for participating in the consultation body, the official replied, "Yes."

However, it is known that the KMA has not officially conveyed these conditions to the government or political circles.

They added, "We have already said several times that increasing medical school quotas in a short period is unreasonable," and "We have informed the government of the KMA's stance multiple times, and since not only the KMA but also various (physician) organizations such as resident groups have expressed similar opinions, there seems to be no need to officially convey the opinion again."

Im Hyun-taek, president of the KMA, posted on social media the day before, "What exactly are the reasons and grounds for the impossibility of re-discussing the 2025 medical school quota from scratch?" and stated, "The KMA demands a reasonable unified plan from the ruling and opposition parties and government to resolve the medical crisis."