Medical Community's Demand for 'Fundamental Review'... Ministry of Education Says "Difficult to Review Quotas for 2025"

"Discussion on 2026 Garden Plans to Be Reconsidered"
Adjustment Not Allowed Under 'Prior Notice System'
Issues Like Korean Medicine School Failing Cases "Not Comparable"

The ruling party proposed a 'ruling and opposition parliamentary consultative body' to resolve the medical reform issue, but when the medical community demanded a 'reexamination of the medical school enrollment increase plans for 2025 and 2026,' the Ministry of Education stated, "It is difficult to review the 2025 enrollment discussion."

At a regular briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the morning of the 9th, Ministry of Education spokesperson Koo Yeon-hee said, "Our position is that the 2026 enrollment can be reconsidered."

Spokesperson Koo explained, "The university entrance exam prior notice system has been in effect since the law was enacted in 2014," adding, "Universities must announce their college entrance exam implementation plans 1 year and 10 months in advance, which is stipulated by law." She continued, "Due to the recent increase in medical school enrollment, the entrance exam implementation plan was changed through structural adjustment," and said, "Since examinees are stakeholders, they will file a provisional injunction to delay the schedule, and it is likely to be accepted in court."

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, held a video conference on March 22 at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with presidents of 40 medical schools operating universities, urging the normalization of medical school operations after the allocation of medical school quotas. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The medical community cited past examples such as the reduction of admission quotas following two collective retention incidents at Korean medicine schools in 1993 and 1996, and the postponement of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) due to the 2017 Pohang earthquake in Gyeongbuk, arguing that re-adjusting enrollment quotas is not impossible. In response, the Ministry of Education rebutted, "The retention incidents at Korean medicine schools occurred before the implementation of the prior notice system for college entrance exams," and "The 2017 CSAT postponement was a decision made for student safety due to a natural disaster." They emphasized, "Since the enrollment quotas have already been set and early application submissions have begun, this is not a matter to be reconsidered from scratch."

When asked whether it is possible to set the 2026 medical school enrollment increase to zero, the same level as 2024, the Ministry replied, "We will reconsider how to adjust the enrollment," and added, "It seems that the decision will be made through discussions in the parliamentary consultative body."