Democratic Party's MiAe Lim Urges Education Minister Kyojin Choi to Establish a National Medical School in Gyeongbuk

Assemblywoman MiAe Lim (proportional), head of the Gyeongsangbuk-do branch of the Democratic Party, met with Education Minister Kyojin Choi at 2:40 p.m. on March 11 at the National Assembly to deliver a policy proposal urging the establishment of a national medical school in Gyeongbuk.

This meeting was arranged to convey the dire healthcare situation in the Gyeongbuk region, which was excluded from the government's plan to expand medical school admissions, and to seek effective measures to address the regional healthcare gap.

Democratic Party lawmaker Mi-ae Lim (left) is meeting with Education Minister Kyojin Choi to deliver a petition for the establishment of a national medical school.

In the proposal, Assemblywoman Lim explained that "as of 2025, Gyeongbuk has only 1.46 doctors per 1,000 people, which is the lowest in the country, and it is the only metropolitan government in Korea without a tertiary general hospital," highlighting the region's vulnerable medical infrastructure.

She further emphasized that, according to the current government plan, Gyeongbuk requires an average of 132 local doctors per year from 2027 to 2031, but the actual increase has been limited to just 90 due to constraints in the educational environment. Assemblywoman Lim argued that establishing a national medical school in Gyeongbuk would make it possible to secure close to the needed 132 doctors annually.

She also raised concerns that, out of the five medical schools in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area, four are concentrated in Daegu, which could result in the training of residents continuing to be centered in large cities even if the local doctor system is introduced.

Assemblywoman Lim stated, "Without a national medical school in Gyeongbuk, there will be no base for cultivating local doctors," and pointed out, "If the structure of moving back to metropolitan healthcare systems during the training stage does not change, the local doctor system will struggle to achieve tangible results." As a solution, she stressed the need to establish a national medical school in the northern part of Gyeongbuk to provide a foundation for learning, training, and living within the region.

Assemblywoman Lim made three key proposals to the Ministry of Education: prepare a plan for allocating medical school admissions on the premise of establishing a national medical school in Gyeongbuk; consider increasing admissions to match the necessary personnel level (an annual average of 132 in Gyeongbuk over five years); and operate a "Gyeongbuk National Medical School Establishment Council" including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Gyeongsangbuk-do.

She earnestly appealed, "The disappearance of local communities begins with the disappearance of healthcare," and added, "The establishment of a national medical school in northern Gyeongbuk is essential to complete the five-pole, three-special-zone system for balanced national development. Therefore, please ensure that the desperate wishes of Gyeongbuk residents are fully reflected in the administrative procedures of the Ministry of Education."

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