South Korea continues to face a medical education crisis, at risk of 'losing' 8,300 students

The South Korean government is trying to save medical education, as 65% of medical students refuse to study, leading to more than 8,300 students facing the risk of repeating a year or being expelled.

The Korean Ministry of Education said that vacant positions due to students voluntarily dropping out or being forced to drop out will be filled through transfer admission programs - Photo: YONHAP NEWS

According to Maeil Business on May 10, the Korean government has decided not to increase enrollment quotas for medical universities for next year, in order to encourage medical students to return to study.

However, the situation is getting complicated, as up to 65% of medical students in Korea still refuse to attend classes, putting them at risk of being held back or receiving a collective academic warning.

South Korean media said efforts to restore medical education have failed, despite the government's concessions.

According to data released by the Korean Ministry of Education on May 9, out of nearly 20,000 medical students studying at 40 universities in Korea, 8,305 students (42.6%) are expected to be forced to repeat a year and 46 students (0.2%) are at risk of being forced to drop out.

According to Maeil Business , most of this group of students chose not to attend classes, but maintained their student status by registering for courses without actually attending class.

The South Korean Ministry of Education said only a maximum of 6,708 medical students (34.4%) can actually enroll in the first semester this year.

According to the regulations of some medical universities in Korea, a student will be forced to drop out if he receives two consecutive academic warnings.

Being forced to leave school means being removed from the student list, and not being able to continue studying without a decision to readmit.

In contrast, retention, which is a requirement to repeat a year, is applied to students who are not qualified to continue studying the program the following year, and are forced to repeat the entire program of the previous school year.

The Korean Ministry of Education announced that it will cooperate with universities to ensure the educational rights of returning students.

In addition, the Korean government also plans to establish a medical education committee to listen to opinions directly and propose measures to protect medical students' right to education.

According to Maeil Business , a group of medical student representatives in Korea, including Mr. Lee Sun Woo - chairman of the Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Undergraduate and Graduate Students Association - filed a complaint with the Korean Office of Criminal Investigation for Senior Civil Servants on May 9.

In the complaint, the group accused South Korean Vice Minister of Education Oh Seok Hwan and several other officials of instructing universities to reject students' applications to reserve their academic results, forcing them to apply retention or expulsion measures to students who do not participate in their studies.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/han-quoc-tiep-tuc-khung-hoang-giao-duc-y-khoa-nguy-co-mat-8-300-sinh-vien-20250510141737647.htm