Medical Association: “2025 and 2026 Increase Plans Must Be Cancelled to Allow Dialogue”

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) argued on the 8th that in order for the medical community to participate in the “ruling and opposition party consultative body” proposed by the ruling party, the plan to increase medical schools in 2025 and 2026 must be scrapped. Following the Office for Government Policy Coordination’s announcement the previous day that “if the medical community expresses its opinion, the scale of the increase in medical schools for the 2026 school year can be discussed,” the Blue House requested that doctors return to dialogue by saying, “Even if the medical community proposes a plan to increase medical schools by ‘0 students’ for the 2026 school year, it can be put on the table for discussion,” but the KMA has temporarily rejected the request. The government has stated several times that it cannot accept an increase in schools this year because the 2025 college entrance exams have effectively begun.

“First of all, we need to normalize the medical field, and to do that, we need to scrap the plan to increase the number of medical schools in 2025 and 2026,” said Choi Anna, a spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association. “If we don’t scrap the plan to increase the number of medical schools next year, a significant number of residents and medical students will not return to the field,” Choi added.

The Korean Medical Association has made it a condition for participation in the ruling and opposition party consultative body to reconsider the 2027 garden. However, these conditions have not been officially conveyed to the government or political circles.

Spokesperson Choi also said, “The ruling and opposition parties must come up with a single plan to restore the current medical situation,” and “Even if they participate in the consultative body, they will only be able to negotiate if they have a discussion structure that residents and medical students can trust.”

The previous day, Korean Medical Association Chairman Lim Hyeon-taek posted on social media, “What is the reason and basis for why it is impossible to re-discuss the starting point of medical school enrollment in 2025?” and “The Korean Medical Association demands a rational, unified plan from the ruling and opposition parties to resolve the medical crisis.”