Medical Students Apply for Leave of Absence for Four Days Totaling 11,481... 346 Students 'Withdraw Leave' Yesterday

Leave of Absence Applicants Account for 61% of All Medical Students
49 More Applied Yesterday
Ministry of Education "Strict Measures Planned"

Amid opposition to the increase in medical school admissions, medical students have continued their collective action for the fourth day, with 49 medical students applying for a leave of absence on the 23rd. Since the first day of the strike leave, about 61% of all medical students have participated in the leave of absence.

According to the Ministry of Education on that day, as of the previous day, a total of 49 leave applications were received from 12 universities. On the other hand, 346 students withdrew their leave at one university.

The total number of medical students who applied for leave over the four days since the 20th is 11,481. According to the Korea Educational Development Institute's education statistics, as of April last year, the total number of medical students was 18,793, meaning that about 61% of all medical students submitted leave applications from the time they began the strike leave.

It has been confirmed that class refusal was observed at 11 universities. The Ministry of Education stated, "At the respective schools, efforts are ongoing through student interviews and explanations to ensure normal academic operations, and strict measures will be taken if students continue to not attend classes."

On the 19th, as concerns over a medical crisis grew with resident doctors at the five major domestic hospitals submitting collective resignation letters, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, attended an emergency video conference at the Government Seoul Office with the presidents of 40 universities that have medical schools. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

It was confirmed that one leave of absence was approved at one university the previous day. This was a leave application (for repeating a year or non-completion) that complied with the requirements and procedures based on school regulations and is understood to be unrelated to the strike leave.

The Ministry of Education said, "Each university is carefully reviewing the approval of students' leave applications according to laws and principles, and will strive to ensure that students do not suffer disadvantages due to uninterrupted class progress. We also urge strict management of collective actions such as class refusal according to school regulations."

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