Health Ministry: "Audit Results on Medical School Quota Increase Will Be Actively Reflected in Workforce Estimation Committee"

Board of Audit and Inspection Concludes "There Were Issues in Policy Implementation"
Korean Medical Association: "Those Responsible Must Be Held Legally Accountable"

In response to the Board of Audit and Inspection’s findings that there were issues throughout the process of implementing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s policy to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 students, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced its intention to enhance the rationality of future decisions regarding medical school quotas.

On the 27th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated in an official statement, "We will actively reflect the results of the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit of last year’s process to increase the medical school quota in our future work," adding, "The analysis results communicated by the Board of Audit and Inspection will be used as reference materials by the Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee in relation to the supply and demand of medical professionals."

Currently, the Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee, under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is discussing how many new doctors will be needed in the future, including the medical school quota for 2027. The ministry emphasized, "We will make efforts to ensure that decisions on medical school quotas are made based on rational and scientific evidence, with sufficient deliberation by the Health and Medical Policy Review Committee and other relevant bodies."

The medical community has urged the government to engage in sufficient consultation on major policy initiatives, stating that the key issues they raised during the policy process have now been confirmed as facts through the Board of Audit and Inspection’s review.

The Korean Medical Association stated at a regular briefing that day, "It has been officially proven that there were serious irrationalities and procedural flaws throughout the policy process," and insisted, "We will hold those responsible for causing two years of national confusion legally accountable." The association further demanded, "The government should acknowledge all procedural problems pointed out by the Board of Audit and Inspection, review the medical policy consultation body, and pursue medical policies through sufficient consultation and discussion with the medical community."

On the same day, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced that the decision to increase the medical school quota under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration was based on inappropriate forecasts. During policy discussions, former Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyuhong favored a phased increase, but former President Yoon Suk Yeol and the presidential office opposed this approach, insisting that the increase should be larger and implemented all at once. As a result, the plan to increase the quota by 2,000 students in a single step was pursued.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.