First Hearing in Medical School Enrollment Increase Cancellation Lawsuit... Medical Students Claim "Yoon's Political Motive" vs Government Says "Dismiss"

The First Oral Argument in the Main Lawsuit:
Medical Students and Government Clash Over Quota Increase Decision

The administrative lawsuit filed by medical students against the government, seeking the cancellation of the government's decision to increase the quota for medical schools, has officially begun. The medical students' side argued, "It has been revealed that former President Yoon Seok-yeol decided on the increase for political purposes after martial law," and insisted, "The decision to increase the quota must be canceled." On the other hand, the government argued, "There was no infringement of the medical students' rights," and insisted, "The lawsuit should be dismissed."

On the 17th, the Administrative Division 13 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Jin Hyun-seop) held the first hearing of the lawsuit filed by students from 40 medical schools and medical graduate schools nationwide against the Ministers of Health and Welfare and Education, seeking the cancellation of the decision to increase admission quotas.

Attorney Lee Byung-chul, representing the medical students, argued that there were procedural and substantive flaws in the government's decision to increase the quota and that the decision should be canceled. Attorney Lee said, "The government violated the medical agreement on September 4, 2020, and did not go through any consultation, so there is a procedural violation," adding, "Substantively, increasing the quota by 2,000 students annually for five years lacks scientific basis."

He further stated, "It was revealed that former President Yoon decided on the increase for political purposes after martial law on December 3 last year," and added, "This measure, lacking scientific basis, has caused a tremendous problem with thousands of excess deaths occurring unjustly each year."

On the other hand, the government argued that the announcement of the quota increase by the Minister of Health and Welfare is not an administrative disposition, and that the medical students lack standing as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, so the lawsuit should be dismissed. The government's representative said, "The plaintiffs claim their right to education has been infringed, but the scale of the increase is not so significant as to render the right to education meaningless or to infringe on the essential right to education."

The government also requested confirmation on whether some plaintiffs are students from universities where the increase did not occur, and whether they are seeking cancellation of the increase decision for other universities.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs stated that since the increase for the 2025 academic year has already been implemented and thus there is no benefit in the lawsuit, they will change the claim to seek cancellation only for the increases after that.

The court inquired about the exact meaning of the government's announcement on the same day that the number of medical school admissions for the 2026 academic year would be adjusted to 3,058, the pre-increase level. The government's representative said, "This is not a reduction or change of the quota, but a separate measure to set the number of admissions only for the 2026 academic year," adding, "Quota and admissions numbers are distinct."

In response, the medical students asked, "Are quota and admissions numbers separated?" and the court requested that the claim regarding this matter also be reviewed.

About 13,000 medical students are conducting the lawsuit divided into three cases of about 4,000 students each, and on this day, hearings for two cases were held consecutively. In February last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the nationwide medical school admission quota would be expanded to 5,058 starting from the 2025 academic year, and the Ministry of Education received applications for quota increases from each university and allocated an increase of 2,000 students nationwide for the 2025 academic year.

The Medical Professors' Council, residents, medical students, and examinees filed cancellation lawsuits and requests for injunctions to suspend the effect of the decision to increase the medical school quota, but the court did not accept all of these. In the main lawsuit, the court dismissed the cancellation lawsuit filed last month by the Medical Professors' Council of 33 medical schools nationwide, stating that "it is not subject to administrative litigation or the plaintiffs are not proper parties to file the lawsuit."