Medical Students: "Taking a Leave of Absence Is Legal, Will Employ All Means Against Unfair Treatment"

A medical student organization has announced a tough stance, stating that it will not hesitate to take legal action if they face unfair treatment from their schools.

The "Korean Medical School and Graduate School of Medicine Student Association" (U-Med) issued a joint statement from student representatives on the 20th, saying, "The leave of absence application submitted legally is still valid." Representatives from 40 medical schools and graduate schools of medicine nationwide signed the joint statement.

U-Med expressed regret over the Ministry of Education's attitude, which treats medical schools merely as factories producing doctors, and criticized, "The rejection of leave of absence applications is nothing more than an irrational decision made by university presidents colluding under arbitrary guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education."

They continued, "Students have the right to apply for leave of absence according to their academic plans and circumstances," and urged, "Since we have submitted leave of absence applications in full compliance with school regulations and procedures, we now hope to see the Ministry and universities act as educators rather than business operators."

This statement is a response to the "Council of University Presidents for the Advancement of Medical Schools" (Presidents' Council), a gathering of presidents from 40 universities with medical schools, who agreed to immediately reject medical students' leave of absence applications following the Ministry of Education's policy that "allied leave of absence" is not allowed.

U-Med also revealed through the statement that at the emergency general meeting of all student representatives held the previous day, it was decided to consider legal action if students on leave face unfair treatment.

The organization stated, "If any specific unit or a particular year within a unit experiences unfair treatment during the processing of leave of absence applications, we will take all possible measures, including litigation, to protect our members' rights."

They reiterated, "We condemn the oppressive actions of the Ministry of Education and universities that invalidate properly submitted leave of absence applications and infringe upon students' rights."

Earlier, the Ministry of Education announced that if all medical students return by the end of this month, the number of medical school admissions for the 2026 academic year will be restored to 3,058, the number before the increase. However, if students do not return, strict disciplinary actions will be taken according to school regulations.

Starting with Korea University, Yonsei University, and Kyungpook National University, most medical schools have set the deadline for return within this month. Students who do not return by the set deadline may face expulsion or grade retention according to school regulations.

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