South Korea ready to revise contentious medical school admissions plan, officials say
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Doctors protest during a rally against government plans to increase medical school admissions and healthcare reform in Seoul on June 18.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL - South Korea’s presidential office said on Sept 6 that it was open to revising a plan to increase medical school admissions, which has triggered months of protests by doctors nationwide.
“The discussion on medical school quotas can start from scratch if the medical community presents a reasonable suggestion,” the office said in a statement, in which it also urged the medical community to discuss options.
The government had previously said the plan would not be revoked.
Thousands of trainee doctors, including interns and resident doctors, walked off the job in February
South Korea is one of the world’s fastest ageing societies.
Earlier in 2024, medical schools finalised their admission quota for 2025, which was up nearly 1,500 compared with the previous year.
According to a Gallup Korea poll released on Sept 6, more than half of those polled support increasing medical school admissions in 2025.
But 64 per cent of those polled also said the government was handling the situation poorly, and President Yoon Suk-yeol’s disapproval rating was at 67 per cent.
The Health Ministry earlier this week said it was deploying military doctors to meet the shortage of medical staff, but disputed a warning by some physicians that the system was on the verge of collapse
