Suspension of Medical School Enrollment Increase Injunction Application Finally Dismissed by Supreme Court

Injunction Lawsuit to Suspend Medical Student Quota Increase
Supreme Court Decided 'Dismissal Without Trial' on the 24th
Ruled Injunction Requirements Not Met

The provisional injunction lawsuit seeking to suspend the effect of medical school enrollment increases, filed by examinees and medical students against the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE), was ultimately dismissed.

A view of a medical school in downtown Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the medical and legal communities on the 26th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Park Young-jae) made a decision on the 24th to dismiss the lawsuit filed in June this year by examinees and first-year pre-medical students with a "dismissal without consideration."

Dismissal without consideration means that if the grounds for appeal do not meet certain criteria, such as contesting a "serious violation of law in the lower court's judgment," the appeal is dismissed without further review. In this case, the lower court's decision is confirmed as is.

In the medical community, several similar provisional injunction applications have been filed against the government and others following the increase in medical school enrollment, but most have been dismissed. Several main lawsuits have yet to reach a first-instance conclusion.