Two out of Three Medical Students Nationwide Submit Leave of Absence Requests... 12,674 in One Week

847 Students Take Leave of Absence Over 3 Days from 23rd to 25th
67% of All Medical Students Apply for Leave

It has been a week since the medical community launched collective action in protest against the 'increase in medical school quotas,' and the number of medical students who have applied for a leave of absence has exceeded 12,600.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 26th, from the 23rd to the 25th, including the weekend, 847 students from 14 medical schools submitted leave of absence applications.

Following 1,133 on the 19th, 7,620 on the 20th, 3,025 on the 21st, and 49 on the 22nd, a total of 12,674 medical students have applied for leave within a week since the start of the collective leave of absence. The number of universities where students applied for leave is 37.

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 more than two out of three, or 67.44%, have applied for collective leave.

On the 20th, medical staff are moving at a large hospital in Seoul, where residents at training hospitals nationwide, including the 'Big 5' hospitals, have submitted resignation letters, and the exodus from hospitals is expected to continue in earnest. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

However, from the 23rd to the 25th, 64 students from three universities withdrew their leave applications. Additionally, during the same period, leave was approved for two students (from two universities), which was confirmed to be for reasons other than the collective leave, such as paid leave, incomplete coursework, or military leave.

On the 23rd, class refusal was confirmed at a total of 11 universities. The Ministry of Education stated, "At the respective schools, efforts to maintain normal academic operations are ongoing through student interviews and explanations, and strict measures will be taken if students continue to not attend classes."

Park Seong-min, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education and head of the Planning and Coordination Office, said, "Some third- and fourth-year medical students have already started their semester, but the pre-medical courses begin next week, so this week is a critical period. The decision on how much to delay the semester will be made by the universities, and we hope that dialogue with the medical community will progress smoothly so that this situation can be resolved quickly."

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