Medical Students Protest "Even Cadavers for Dissection Are Insufficient"... Parents File Lawsuit Over 'Zero' Availability in Seoul

Request to Expedite Leave of Absence Approval... "Considering Administrative Litigation if Rejected"
"Support for Medical Students Wishing to Obtain Overseas Medical Licenses"

Representatives of students from 40 medical schools and medical graduate schools nationwide protested on the 20th against the government's unilateral announcement of the allocation of 2,000 additional medical school admissions, stating that they "absolutely cannot accept the unilateral announcement."

The Korean Medical School and Medical Graduate School Student Association (KMSA), composed of representatives of medical school and medical graduate school students, issued a joint statement on the same day, saying, "If the increase is implemented, students will not be able to properly conduct dissection practice due to a shortage of cadavers, and will become doctors through forced promotion while going through formalistic practice."

The government disclosed the results of the allocation of the 2,000 additional medical school admissions by university on the same day. Of the additional admissions, 18%, or 361 students, were allocated to the Gyeongin area, and 82%, or 1,639 students, were allocated to non-metropolitan areas. No additional admissions were assigned to the Seoul area.

Medical student representatives said, "All three authors of the papers cited as the basis for the government's estimate of 2,000 additional admissions stated that their research is completely unrelated to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's logic," and questioned, "Who should present the logical basis for the (2,000 admissions)?"

They added, "The forced implementation of this policy is a ploy to suppress the medical community through threats and intimidation, aiming to gain political benefits, and the damage will be borne entirely by the public."

Students are entering a medical college in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The KMSA also reiterated its determination to carry out a 'solidarity leave of absence.' Medical students have been submitting collective leave of absence notices and refusing classes in protest against the increase policy since mid-last month. From the 19th of last month until the day before, a total of 8,360 medical students submitted leave of absence notices following proper procedures. This accounts for 44.5% of the total medical students nationwide (18,793 as of April last year).

The KMSA stated, "Students will never back down," and added, "We will strongly demand that universities accept the leave of absence notices, and we have completed legal reviews for administrative lawsuits in case the leave of absence notices are rejected."

They further said, "We will launch programs and support projects for students wishing to obtain overseas medical licenses such as the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) and JMLE (Japan Medical Licensing Examination)," pointing the finger at the government, saying, "This is an inevitable result of the government's political and illogical policy enforcement."

Strong opposition has also emerged among parents and examinees in the Seoul area, which was excluded from the increase. Lawyer Lee Byung-chul of the law firm Chanjong announced that he filed a lawsuit for cancellation of the admission quota increase and allocation disposition and a request for suspension of execution with the Seoul Administrative Court on behalf of medical students, parents, and examinees in the Seoul area against the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Lawyer Lee said, "The anger of Seoul parents is exploding over the allocation disposition of medical school admission increases that discriminate against Seoul," and urged, "The preferential admissions for non-metropolitan areas must be stopped."

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