5 medical schools close registration while some students apply for reinstatement

Some medical students, who have not attended classes for over a year in protest of the South Korean government’s policy to increase the number of medical school admissions, reportedly applied for reinstatement on Friday. However, there were conflicting claims between medical schools and students regarding the scale of the return.

According to the education sector on Friday, five medical schools—Korea University, Yonsei University (Seoul and Wonju campuses), Kyungpook National University, and Cha University—closed registration and reinstatement applications that day. These schools are expected to decide as early as next week whether to expel students who have not registered. Previously, the government demanded that medical students return to school by the end of this month as a prerequisite for maintaining the 2024 admission quota of 3,058 students for next year.

“Today, there has been a significant shift in the atmosphere at universities closing registration, and a considerable number of students are returning,” the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Graduate Schools of Medicine, which represents medical school deans, stated. “There are students who, exhausted by over a year of protest, are considering returning. However, the number of returnees may not be as high as expected,” a student on leave from a medical school in the Seoul metropolitan area commented in contrast. Korea University Medicine’s Emergency Response Committee of Professors issued a statement urging students to leave the future struggle to the older generation and return to the sanctuary of learning.


Sung-Min Park min@donga.com