Presidential Office: "Next Year's Medical School Quota Discussion Faces Obstacles... Decided to Take a Pause for Now"

"Can Resume Discussions Anytime Sitting at the Table"

Jang Sang-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs to the President, is delivering a keynote speech at the discussion forum "Medical Reform, Where Are We Going?" held on October 10 at the Convergence Hall of Seoul National University College of Medicine in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The Presidential Office stated on the 3rd that the 'Ruling and Opposition Parliamentary Council,' launched to resolve conflicts over medical reform, suspended its activities after 20 days because "opinions on next year's admission quotas became an obstacle, making it difficult to advance discussions, so we decided to take a 'cooling time.'"

Jang Sang-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs at the Presidential Office, appeared on KBS1 Radio's 'Jeonggyeok Sisa' that morning and said, "The Ruling and Opposition Parliamentary Council has decided to take a temporary break," adding, "It is a provisional suspension, and they can sit back at the table and resume anytime."

Jang said, "The difficulty encountered while promoting medical reform was the (medical school) quota issue, but the government has consistently expressed its position," and urged, "I hope the medical community does not get too caught up in strong demands and takes this opportunity for change."

Although the government and the medical community had a hard time launching the Ruling and Opposition Parliamentary Council, they ultimately failed to narrow the differences over the 2025 medical school admission quotas. Jang explained, "The most important thing in university admissions is predictability," adding, "For next year's admissions, the rules were already set and announced by the end of May this year for each university's recruitment notice, and students have been preparing accordingly."

He continued, "Each student can apply to six early admission places and three regular admission places, giving nine chances per student, so reducing the (medical school) quota now would be a deprivation of opportunity and practically impossible," reiterating, "It was difficult to change the rules once they were announced at the end of May."

Regarding the 2026 medical school admission quotas, he said, "According to the Higher Education Act, admission quotas must be announced two years in advance," but added, "Since the medical community argues that the increase of 2,000 is excessive, if they bring a well-founded alternative, we have a flexible stance to reconsider the estimate without being fixated on the 2,000 increase."

Jang emphasized, "The government’s responsibility is to manage and monitor the supply and demand of medical personnel and increase supply if future demand rises to maintain a normal medical system," and stressed, "To revive regional and essential medical care, the number of doctors must fundamentally increase."

He also said, "Starting next year, Korea will enter a super-aged society, and as the population aged 65 and over increases, the shortage of doctors must be addressed," adding, "While it is necessary to gather opinions from the medical community, decision-making and determination are the government's responsibility."

Jang pointed out, "There is a severe medical gap between non-metropolitan and metropolitan areas; the number of doctors per 1,000 people in Seoul exceeds 3.8, the OECD average is 3.7, but in medically vulnerable areas like Gyeongbuk, Jeonnam, and Gyeongnam, it falls to around 1," and added, "If medical accessibility varies by region, the government cannot just stand by."