29% of Medical Students Apply for Leave of Absence... Continued Class Boycott

5401 Valid Leave of Absence Cases as of the 4th

About 29% of medical students, who have been continuing collective action in opposition to the government's plan to increase medical school quotas, have applied for leave of absence meeting the requirements.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 5th, as of the previous day, the total number of medical students who applied for leave of absence meeting all requirements was 5,401, which is about 28.7% of the total 18,793 medical students.

Amid the ongoing strong confrontation between the government and the medical community over the increase in medical school admissions, medical staff are moving at a large hospital in Seoul on the 29th, the government's deadline for residents who left the hospital to return. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the previous day, 14 valid leave of absence applications were properly received from 9 schools, and the Ministry of Education explained that class refusal was confirmed at 8 schools.

The actual number of medical students who submitted leave of absence applications is expected to be higher. This is because the education authorities decided to exclude leave applications that did not meet the requirements from the count, even if the students applied for leave.

Combining the total number of leave applications counted since the start of the medical students' "alliance leave" on the 19th of last month and the valid leave applications counted separately since the 28th, the total number of leave applications announced is 14,043. This accounts for 74.7% of the total number of medical students.

An official from the Ministry of Education stated, "Through the medical school issue task force, we plan to continuously request universities to cooperate with normal academic management, such as encouraging students to return to their studies."

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