Doctors' group demands withdrawal of med school quota hike plan

A major doctors' lobby group demanded on Sunday the government cancel its plan to raise the medical school admissions quota for 2025 and 2026 and discuss the possible quota adjustment for 2027 or afterward.

Officials of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) made the call after the government last week said it is willing to revise the plan for 2026 if the medical community presents a "reasonable" option, reports Yonhap news agency.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has vowed to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats per year over the next five years or so to address a shortage of doctors and finalized in June a quota hike of some 1,500 students for next year.

In protest, a majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February, causing serious disruptions to the national health care system.

"The government must nullify the plan to increase medical school seats for 2025 and 2026 and discuss the possible adjustment for 2027 or afterwards," a KMA official said.

"It is a precondition for our joining of a joint consultative body with the government and parties, but I don't think we need to deliver the stance again to them as we've made it clear that a drastic increase is absurd," the official added.

The government and the ruling People Power Party have also proposed the establishment of a joint consultative body involving rival parties and the medical community to seek a breakthrough.

KMA chief Lim Hyun-taek said in an online post Saturday that the government and rival parties need to come up with "a reasonable, unified proposal" to resolve the current medical crisis.

But the government has said it is not possible to revisit the quota hike plan for next year as procedures for college entrance are already under way.

In response to the KMA demand, a senior official at the presidential office said the issue of increasing medical school admissions for next year has already been decided, making it practically impossible to discuss.

The official, however, added the government is open to discussing potential increases from 2026 onward without being bound by specific numbers.

"While changes cannot be made for 2025, starting from 2026, if the medical community presents reasonable grounds, we can discuss the matter without any restrictions on numbers," the official said.