by Oh Jooyean
Published 04 Feb.2025 16:39(KST)
The Ministry of Education announced on the 4th that a case in which students at a university in the Seoul metropolitan area forced other students to take a leave of absence was reported to the 'Medical School Student Protection and Reporting Center' and that the incident has been referred to the National Police Agency for investigation.
According to the report, some students psychologically pressured those who had not submitted leave of absence forms by repeatedly posting the submission status on an online platform involving all students, and contacted the non-submitters to coerce them into submitting the forms.
The Ministry of Education also revealed that attempts to force freshmen to submit leave of absence forms were detected, such as planning to have them submit forms during orientation events or obtaining freshmen contact information from the school and personally persuading them to submit the forms.
The Ministry urged all 40 medical schools (including one graduate medical school) to strictly take measures according to school regulations against any acts that hinder the normalization of academic affairs. Additionally, it requested schools to pay special attention to managing personal information and actively inform students that if personal information is transmitted or used by third parties without the consent of freshmen, it may be punishable under the Personal Information Protection Act.
The Ministry of Education stated, "We are making our best efforts in cooperation with medical schools to normalize academic affairs for the 2025 academic year," and added, "We hope students will return to their studies as soon as possible and demonstrate maturity by respecting the rights of other students."
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