Over 700,000 Signatures for Changwon Medical School Establishment... Now Focusing on Establishing Changwon Medical School

Changwon Special City and Gyeongnam Province Set 1 Million by March
Petitions to Be Delivered to Government with Signatures

Mayor Hong Nampyo: "Hundreds of Thousands Travel to Seoul Area for Medical Treatment Annually, Solution Is Establishing C

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam has achieved the second goal of the "1 Million Citizens 1 Million Signatures Campaign" for the establishment of Changwon Medical School, reaching 700,000 signatures. This result comes after the launch of the Pan-Citizen Promotion Committee in March last year and active signature campaigns along with government petitions from various sectors. The city plans to continue the signature campaign, setting a final target of 1 million signatures by March.

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, is explaining the necessity of establishing Changwon Medical School at the 2nd National Assembly Forum.

In particular, with the city, Gyeongnam Province, and the local community united in their call for the establishment of Changwon Medical School, attention is focused on whether visible results can be achieved in the government’s expected announcement of medical school quota increases and new school establishment policies around March to April this year.

Changwon Special City is the only metropolitan city with a population over 1 million outside the Seoul metropolitan area that does not have a medical school, causing citizens to feel a relative deprivation in medical infrastructure.

The situation is similar when looking at the entire Gyeongnam Province. Currently, there is only one medical school in Gyeongnam, Gyeongsang National University, with a quota of just 76 students. Therefore, the number of medical school quotas per 100,000 people is 2.3, far below the national average of 5.9. Additionally, the number of emergency medicine specialists is 2.0, less than half the national average of 4.2. As of last year, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in Gyeongnam was 1.75, compared to the national average of 2.22 and Seoul’s 3.54, more than twice that of Gyeongnam.

Although the medical school quota has been frozen for 19 years, medical demand is rapidly increasing due to steep aging. Gyeongnam ranks third highest nationwide with 47.3 deaths per 100,000 people that could have been prevented with treatment.

Despite this, Changwon, with a population of 1.03 million, currently has no educational institutions for medical professionals such as medical, dental, Korean medicine, or pharmacy schools. Since it takes more than 10 years for doctors to graduate and work in the field after a medical school is established, the establishment of a medical school in Changwon is urgent.

Representatives of companies in Gyeongnam gather to support the establishment of Gyeongnam Changwon Medical School.

◆ Now is the right time to establish a medical school = The call for establishing a medical school in the region began over 30 years ago. In 1992, Changwon National University applied to establish a pre-medical course with 40 students. In 1996 and 1997, citizen signature campaigns were conducted to establish an industrial medical school, and in 1998, a plan for an industrial medical school emphasizing regional specialization was submitted to the Ministry of Education.

In 2015, an application to establish a medical school with 50 students was submitted to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Changwon Special City also pushed for the establishment of a medical school when it was launched as the integrated Changwon City in 2010. However, these efforts repeatedly failed.

The city believes now is the right time to establish a medical school as President Yoon Seok-yeol’s pledge and the strong commitment from government ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education to expand medical school quotas are in place. Among the top 10 pledges for the Gyeongnam region announced during President Yoon’s last election campaign was "Expansion of Gyeongnam’s public medical network and establishment of a quality medical service system." The 120 national tasks also include "Strengthening essential medical infrastructure and reducing medical expenses."

The current atmosphere in the local community is heated. The city and Gyeongnam Province are united in their voice. Both the provincial and city councils have adopted petitions to the government, and demands for the establishment of Changwon Medical School continue from various sectors including politics, economy, religion, and parents. In a public opinion survey conducted in October last year with 1,014 Gyeongnam residents, 84.4% responded that establishing a medical school in Changwon is necessary. Above all, the fact that 700,000 people participated in the signature campaign shows that the demand for establishing Changwon Medical School among local residents is higher than ever.

◆ Efforts for establishing a medical school

The work to establish a medical school in Changwon Special City began in earnest early last year. At the end of January, a "Changwon Medical School Attraction Task Force (TF)" was formed within the city hall organization to establish detailed strategies and activity plans. On March 13, a launch ceremony and rally for the "Pan-Citizen Promotion Committee for Changwon Medical School Attraction" were held with about 1,000 participants including local lawmakers, provincial and city council members, economic, medical, educational sectors, and civic and social organizations.

Two national assembly forums for nationwide public discussion were held on March 27 and November 1. The forums, co-hosted by five local lawmakers, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Changwon Special City, featured experts from various fields who unanimously agreed that establishing a medical school in Changwon is essential to prevent the collapse of regional medical care.

◆ Future plans

The city plans to deliver the signed petitions along with a petition letter to the government once the final goal of 1 million signatures is reached. Alongside this, the city will continue campaigns for the establishment of the medical school, visits and petitions to the central government and National Assembly, press conferences to urge establishment, events praying for the medical school’s establishment, and relay solo protests until the government’s policy on increasing medical school quotas and new school establishment is finalized.

Mayor Hong Nam-pyo said, "With 200,000 patients annually traveling from Gyeongnam to the Seoul metropolitan area for medical treatment due to insufficient medical personnel and infrastructure, the only solution is the establishment of Changwon Medical School." He added, "By establishing a medical school, we will improve regional medical standards, prevent the outflow of local talent, attract excellent external talent, and foster the medical and bio industries."

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