[Breaking] Seoul High Court Dismisses and Rejects Appeal Against Injunction Request on Medical School Expansion

Afternoon of the 16th at a medical school in downtown Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Medical school professors, residents, and medical students filed for a suspension of enforcement against the government, requesting to halt the effect of the ‘Increase and Allocation Decision of 2,000 Medical School Quotas,’ but the court dismissed or rejected the requests.

On the 16th, the Administrative Division 7 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Gu Hoe-geun, Baesangwon, Choi Da-eun) dismissed or rejected the appeals of 18 applicants, including examinees, medical students, residents, and medical school professors, who requested to suspend the enforcement of the policy to increase and allocate 2,000 medical school quotas. The court ruled that only current medical students had standing as applicants, while medical school professors and prospective medical students did not.

This case was filed together with an administrative lawsuit by medical school professors, university hospital residents, and medical students against the Ministers of Health and Welfare and Education, requesting the cancellation of the increase of 2,000 medical school quotas for the 2025 academic year. A suspension of enforcement refers to a court decision to temporarily halt the execution of an administrative disposition or the continuation of procedures when an administrative disposition cancellation lawsuit is filed.

Previously, the Seoul Administrative Court, which handled the first trial, dismissed the suspension of enforcement application itself, citing the plaintiff’s ‘standing.’ A dismissal means ending the trial without examining the merits when the lawsuit does not meet the requirements or the claim is not subject to judgment. For the same reason, out of eight suspension of enforcement applications filed separately by the National Council of 33 Medical School Professors Associations (Jeonui Gyohyeop), medical school professors, residents, medical students, and examinees at the Seoul Administrative Court, seven were consecutively dismissed.

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