"Cancellation of Next Year's Medical School Expansion Not Possible"…Difficulty in Forming Ruling and Opposition Party Parliamentary Council

Presidential Office and Korean Medical Association Still Divided on Medical School Expansion

As the conflict between the government and the medical community prolongs, leading to the reality of emergency room treatment suspensions across the country, on the morning of the 3rd, ambulances were waiting in front of the Regional Emergency Medical Center at a university hospital in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office has expressed willingness to readjust the medical school quota for the 2026 academic year after discussions with the medical community, but is facing difficulties in forming the 'Ruling and Opposition Party Medical Council.' The Korea Medical Association (KMA) insists that the increase in medical school admissions for 2025 and 2026 should be canceled, while the Presidential Office maintains that this is impossible.

A senior official from the Presidential Office stated, "For the 2025 academic year, the admission procedures are already underway," adding, "It is impossible to reconsider the medical school quota for next year." This implies that canceling the increase in medical school admissions for the upcoming year, with the early admission application period imminent, is not realistic.

Previously, the Presidential Office had stated, "If the medical community proposes a reasonable plan regarding the medical school quota issue, we are willing to discuss it from a zero base at any time." This means accepting the proposal by Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, to form a ruling and opposition party medical council and to reconsider the medical school quota for the 2026 academic year from scratch.

However, the KMA announced on the same day that for the medical community to participate in the 'Ruling and Opposition Party Medical Council,' the plans to increase medical school admissions for 2025 and 2026 must be canceled, and discussions should resume starting with the 2027 quota.

A KMA official explained, "It is common sense that rapidly increasing the medical school quota is problematic, and if increasing the quota is truly justified, it is only natural to discuss the increase starting from 2027 or later."

However, as the Presidential Office has set a policy that it cannot reverse the 2025 medical school quota increase plan, forming the ruling and opposition party medical council has become difficult. It is known that the government and ruling party strongly feel that if immediate participation by the medical community is difficult, at least the ruling and opposition party council should be launched first to discuss the medical school quota issue.