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Gov't cancels briefing on medical students' return amid lack of consensus

Published: 24 Jul. 2025, 11:09

An empty lecture hall is seen at a medical school in Seoul on July 17. [YONHAP]

The Education Ministry on Wednesday announced that it would unveil a plan this week to accommodate the mass return of boycotting medical students, but abruptly canceled it, citing the need for more time for consulting among medical schools.

Medical students have been boycotting classes for more than a year in protest of the government's plan to expand medical school admissions. About 8,000 students nationwide have effectively been held back a year after refusing to attend classes.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education initially announced that it would hold a briefing on the plan late Thursday morning at the government complex in Seoul, but canceled it later in the day.

"The briefing on medical students' return and academic operation plans has been canceled as further discussions among universities are needed," the ministry said without elaborating.

A new date for the briefing will be announced later, it added.

The cancellation appears to reflect universities' failure to agree on key details of the plan.

Earlier this month, the Korean Medical Student Association said students boycotting classes would return to school following the government's reversal of its initial admissions plan.

The government is expected to allow students who were retained for a year to resume classes in the fall semester and to offer additional rounds of the medical licensing exam for senior students.

A group of deans from 40 medical schools has reportedly asked the government to hold extra licensing exams in the first half of next year for students unable to take the regular exams beginning this September.

The standoff began early last year when thousands of trainee doctors walked off the job and many medical students boycotted classes over the government's decision to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting this year.

The government later backed down, restoring the 2026 admissions quota to its original level of about 3,000.

Yonhap