Six in 10 SNU medical students will return to studies, survey suggests

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Six in 10 SNU medical students will return to studies, survey suggests

Published: 27 Mar. 2025, 16:11

CHO JUNG-WOO
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Doctors walk across the Seoul National University College of Medicine campus in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 27. [NEWS1]

At least six in 10 medical students at Seoul National University (SNU) said they will resume their studies, more than a year after leaving campus in protest of the government’s plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota.

Observers believe the move could influence the return of medical students at other schools participating in the mass protest.

According to medical sources on Thursday, an SNU task force dedicated to the conflict surveyed medical students on whether they would register for the first semester. A total of 607 out of 645 students participated in the vote.

Nearly 66 percent, or 399 students, said they would not continue the protest by refusing to register, while 34 percent, or 208 students, said they would.

The task force advised students to submit their applications and register for classes by 2 p.m. Thursday, saying it would provide guidelines on the next steps.

At Yonsei University, around 45 percent of medical students have also decided to return. By last Friday’s deadline, roughly 300 out of 700 students had signed up to resume their studies. However, medical students at Yonsei said they would first register, but take a leave of absence and not attend classes.

The decision came as Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on March 7 announced that the medical school enrollment quota for 2026 would remain at 3,058 — the same as before the proposed increase — on the condition that all medical students return to class by the end of March.

The government’s announcement in February last year to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 — raising it from 3,058 to 5,058 — has triggered mass resignations and leaves of absence among junior doctors and students, plunging the country into a medical crisis.

Yonsei University has issued expulsion warnings to students who have not submitted their applications to resume studies. The school plans to expel unregistered students on Friday.

People pass by the Seoul National University College of Medicine campus in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 27. [NEWS1]

Similarly, Korea University set a preliminary deadline last Friday for medical students to decide whether to return. On Monday, it issued expulsion notices to those who did not, deciding to remove around 350 students who had not registered by Wednesday.

The Korean Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC), which represents students from 40 medical schools, excluded SNU and Yonsei University from its latest statement, as students at both schools had already decided to return.

In a statement Thursday, the KAMC said students at the other 38 medical schools "are still maintaining their stance of not registering."

"Shouldn’t we at least wait for the verdict on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who caused the medical collapse?" the statement read.

A source familiar with the matter told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, that "the unity among medical schools has, in effect, collapsed."

"Other universities are now considering whether to resume classes following the decisions of SNU and Yonsei University," the source said.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, CHAE HYE-SEON [[email protected]]