Government Warning Ignored... Seoul National University College of Medicine First-Year Second Semester Course Registration '0 Students'

'Jeonmuhu-mu'... Zero Students Registered for 1st Year 2nd Semester
"Practically Confirmed to Fail... Fundamental Measures Needed"

Medical students, opposing the government's policy to increase the number of medical students, have been submitting leave of absence applications in large numbers and refusing to attend classes since the last semester. On the 30th of last month, Seoul National University College of Medicine approved the students' leave of absence.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Seoul National University College of Medicine approved the collective leave of absence for medical students despite the government's policy of disallowing such approvals, and it has been revealed that among first-year students, there were 'zero' students who registered for courses in the second semester.

According to data submitted by Seoul National University to Kang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Justice Party for Innovation, no first-year premedical students (out of 142 enrolled) registered for courses in the second semester this year.

Among second-year premedical students (total 154), no one registered for 14 out of 16 courses. Only two courses (Practical Medical Research 2 and Independent Topic Exploration) had registrations, with 2 and 9 students respectively.

As of September 16, the number of students who paid tuition for the second semester this year was 31 first-year premedical students (21.8% of the total) and 33 second-year students (21.4%), totaling 64 students. Although some first- and second-year students at Seoul National University College of Medicine paid tuition, most did not register for courses. The Ministry of Education issued guidelines, such as changing the deadline for first-semester grades to the end of the academic year to prevent collective failure among medical students, but the effect was minimal.

Meanwhile, it has been found that Seoul National University has no official record of operating both the first and second semesters simultaneously since its founding.

Assemblywoman Kang said, "The second semester has started, but medical students have still not returned. Universities are conducting unprecedented academic operations according to government policy, but in reality, failure is already confirmed," emphasizing, "Fundamental measures are needed."

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, Seoul National University College of Medicine collectively approved the first-semester leave of absence applications submitted by students after their class boycott continued for over seven months. A representative from Seoul National University College of Medicine explained, "According to the Higher Education Act, 30 weeks of classes must be conducted in one academic year, but even if students return now, it is impossible to complete classes by February next year," adding, "To prevent failure, we had no choice but to approve the leave of absence." The Ministry of Education, which had blocked the approval of leave applications, announced a direct response policy, stating, "We will take strict measures, including immediately launching an audit on the unilateral approval of leave by the dean of Seoul National University College of Medicine."