Seoul, Feb 26 The South Korean government has raised the possibility of scrapping a controversial increase of medical school admissions for next year, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, as it seeks to resolve a prolonged dispute with trainee doctors.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho met with the deans of medical schools earlier this week and said he may consider setting an annual admission quota of 3,058 for 2026, down 2,000 from this year, if the medical students currently on leave return for the March semester, according to government officials and medical sources, Yonhap news agency reported.
For more than a year, the government and trainee doctors have been in dispute as the government hiked the number of medical school admissions by 2,000 starting from this year. No concrete agreement was reportedly reached during the meeting.
"It was a tug of war between the two sides as the deans said they would try to persuade the students if the quota is frozen, while the education ministry questioned whether freezing the quota would actually guarantee their return," one of the deans said.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA) dismissed media reports that Lee had informally suggested a freeze to the association, calling it a "media ploy." Meanwhile, medical students have hinted that they will continue their leave of absence whether or not the government proposes an enrollment freeze.
"I already submitted my leave of absence," said a medical student on leave. "The fact that students submitted their leaves of absence, even with the possibility of the quota hike being scrapped, means students are refusing to return."
Thousands of medical students have taken a leave of absence in protest of the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000, as part of a broader initiative to raise the total by approximately 10,000 over the next five years to address a shortage of doctors.
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