"15 Years of Mandatory Public Healthcare Service After Licensing"... Public Medical School Act Passes Subcommittee

People Power Party Boycotts Committee Meeting, Refusing to Attend

The Public Medical School Act, which requires medical license holders to serve in public healthcare institutions for 15 years after obtaining their license, passed the second subcommittee for bill review of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee on February 27, 2026.

The bill review subcommittee of the Health and Welfare Committee held a meeting that day and merged three separate Public Medical School Act proposals sponsored respectively by Assemblymembers Park Heeseung, Kim Moonsu, and Lee Sujin of the Democratic Party of Korea, processing them as the "Act on the Establishment and Operation of the National Graduate School of Medicine."

The core of the bill is that graduates of the public medical school (National Graduate School of Medicine), who have received tuition support, will be awarded their degrees on the condition that they work in public healthcare institutions for 15 years.

The National Medical Center and regional medical centers will be designated as educational and training institutions.

The government has drawn up a plan to recruit 100 new students per year if the public medical school is established starting with the 2030 academic year.

On the other hand, members of the People Power Party belonging to the Health and Welfare Committee did not attend the meeting that day. This was due to the People Power Party's declaration of a 'committee boycott' and a filibuster (a legitimate obstruction of proceedings through unlimited debate) in protest against the Democratic Party’s push to pass key bills unilaterally.

Kim Mi-ae, the People Power Party's senior member of the Health and Welfare Committee, expressed her opposition on Facebook, stating, "I express deep concern over the unilateral approval of contentious bills that require in-depth discussion."

Assemblywoman Kim emphasized, "Because the program operates as a four-year, not a six-year, curriculum, concerns about the declining quality of medical personnel may arise." She also urged, "Even now, the Democratic Party should return to a responsible stance by sufficiently reflecting the voices on the ground through proper deliberation procedures, such as holding public hearings."