Policy of "No Enlisted Service for Medical Officer Candidates" Sparks Backlash
Residents Say, "We Were Told to Enlist Upon Resignation from Training Institutions"
Restriction on Enlistment Timing Criticized as "Violation of Fundamental Rights"
The government has reaffirmed its policy of not allowing resigning residents to serve as enlisted soldiers and instead selecting them sequentially as military doctors, which has sparked strong opposition from the residents. Among the residents who collectively resigned due to the medical-government conflict, about 3,300 have not yet fulfilled their military service, putting them in a position where they may have to wait up to four years before enlistment.
On the 22nd, military service-exempted former resident doctors held a rally in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, opposing the Ministry of National Defense's recently announced legislative amendment to the "Regulations on the Selection and Enlistment of Medical and Veterinary Officers." Photo by Yonhap News
According to the medical community on the 24th, this controversy arose after the Ministry of National Defense announced a legislative notice last month on the 10th regarding the "Amendment to the Regulations on the Selection and Enlistment of Medical and Veterinary Officers," stating that medical officer candidates who are waiting for enlistment without being selected as military doctors or public health doctors (Gongbo-ui) would be classified and managed as 'non-selected active duty personnel.'
Under the current Military Service Act, those who graduate from medical school and obtain a medical license but have not completed military service are incorporated as medical officer candidates during their internship and residency training at training institutions, with their enlistment deferred until they complete their training, after which they serve as medical officers. The Ministry of National Defense annually selects 600 to 700 medical officer candidates as military doctors, while the remaining 200 to 300 are assigned to supplementary service and serve as public health doctors at regional medical institutions.
Until now, the number of medical officer candidates fulfilling their military service obligations has typically been around 1,000 per year, so there was no significant problem in supplying military doctors and public health doctors. However, due to the collective resignation of residents last year, the number of enlistment candidates this year has increased more than threefold compared to usual. Last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare attempted to induce resigning residents to return by offering military service exemptions, but only 108 residents chose this option. Accordingly, the Ministry of National Defense plans to select about 700 military doctors and 250 public health doctors on the 27th, and classify the remaining medical officer candidates as non-selected active duty personnel, who will be sequentially selected as military doctors or public health doctors over the next four years. If all resigning residents were enlisted at once this year, there would be no military doctors available for enlistment from next year, causing disruptions in medical personnel supply and military medical system operations.
On the other hand, the resigning residents argue that their fundamental rights have been violated by the Ministry of National Defense's sudden amendment of the regulations and are demanding that if they cannot serve as military doctors as planned, they be allowed to serve as regular enlisted soldiers. They claim that when they resigned from training institutions last year, they planned to enlist immediately according to government policy, but the Ministry of National Defense suddenly amended the regulations and applied them retroactively, forcing them to remain in enlistment waiting status for several years with restrictions on employment and other activities.
In a press briefing on the 21st, the Ministry of National Defense officially confirmed that it cannot accept the demands of the resigning residents, stating, "Once incorporated as a medical officer candidate, one cannot serve as an enlisted soldier." This is because even regular enlisted soldiers must wait their turn if the number of enlistment candidates increases, and under the Military Service Act, medical officer candidates are not removed from their status even if they resign from training institutions.
A Ministry of National Defense official explained, "Medical officer candidates who were in residency training until recently (early last year) were scheduled to enlist as medical officers sequentially from 2025 to 2028, but about 3,300 medical officer candidates resigned from training institutions last year and became enlistment candidates this year." He added, "Those remaining after selecting active-duty military doctors will be assigned as public health doctors or managed continuously as medical officer candidates based on Article 120 of the Enforcement Decree of the Military Service Act." Regarding the selection of enlistment candidates, he said, "Those who have reached the military service exemption age of 33 will be enlisted first, and medical officer candidates cannot choose between military doctor and public health doctor."
In response to the Ministry of National Defense's policy, Song Ha-yoon, a resigning resident who held a protest rally on the 22nd, said, "The government is using the law to exploit young residents at will," and raised her voice, saying, "We were made to sign documents stating that if we resign, we must immediately join the military, but now even if we resign, we cannot go to the military right away." Park Dan, emergency committee chairperson of the Korean Intern Resident Association, also warned of legal action through Facebook, stating, "We are not refusing military service, so how can they say they will not send us as military doctors, public health doctors, or enlisted soldiers? See you in court."
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