Government considers granting medical schools autonomy on admission quotas

Two medical professionals walk in a general hospital's compound on Thursday in Seoul. [YONHAP]

The government is likely to provide autonomy to medical schools for their admission quota expansion on Friday, accepting requests from presidents of national universities.

A presidential official said the decision to grant medical schools the right to decide how many seats to add in upcoming admissions will be made in a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the same day. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will preside over the meeting.

According to Yonhap News Agency’s reports on Friday, the presidential official said the government is "open to [adjusting] the number of 2,000."

The government has been pushing its medical reform of adding 2,000 new admission quotas since February, leading over 10,000 junior doctors to stage a walkout and resign as a protest.

The official also emphasized that authorities should confirm the number of seats to add in the "fastest manner as college admission nears."

The presidents of six national universities raised a request to the government on Thursday, asking for permission to downsize the admission hike by half in the upcoming admissions.

Of the country’s nine national universities running medical schools, the presidents of Kangwon National University, Kyungpook National University, Gyeongsang National University, Jeju National University, Chungbuk National University and Chungnam National University issued a joint statement, expressing their intention to better align "each school’s academic environment and resources."

They emphasized the need for their active involvement in negotiations with the government, pointing out that "national medical schools outside the greater Seoul area have been assigned the largest number of admission slots."

The remaining three schools — Pusan National University, Jeonbuk National University and Chonnam National University — did not participate in Thursday’s collective request.

The presidential official's comment on Friday leaves room for the quota hike in medical schools to happen on a smaller scale than the originally planned.

Prime Minister Han is expected to announce it himself in a post-meeting briefing on Friday at around 3 p.m.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]