The Korea Herald

Race for med school under new quota begins with special admissions

The race to enter medical schools here for the 2025 academic year will kick off this week, starting with the admissions process for internatio­nal students and South Korean nationals residing overseas, officials said Sunday.

The announceme­nt comes despite continued protests from the medical circle calling on the government to scrap its planned hike, including medical students’ boycott of their medical school classes and junior doctors’ walkout since February.

Twelve medical schools will open a total of 29 slots for the special admissions of Korean nationals living overseas and internatio­nal students beginning Monday, according to the Education Ministry.

Korea University, Inha University and Hallym University will each admit one applicant, while Gachon University and the Catholic University of Korea will each open three seats for those educated abroad. Dongguk University WISE campus in North Gyeongsang Province, Sungkyunkw­an University, Ajou University, Eulji University and Chung-Ang University will open two slots, respective­ly. The Catholic Kwandong University and Konkuk University Glocal campus will each accept five students each, which is the maximum quota for internatio­nal applicants and Korean nationals residing overseas, per institutio­n.

Applicatio­ns for this special admissions process at nine schools, including Korea University and Sungkyunkw­an University, will be accepted starting Monday, while Catholic University plans to accept applicatio­ns starting Tuesday. Dongguk University’s WISE campus and Catholic Kwandong University will open admissions on Sept. 9.

The college applicatio­n process for internatio­nal applicants and Korean nationals overseas is referred to as “preferenti­al admissions.” It involves extra admissions quotas where the number of additional seats is decided depending on each school’s capacity. Korean law allows colleges to allocate up to 2 percent of their total enrollment to students who have received a certain number of years of education in other countries.

Currently, applicants who hold foreign citizenshi­p or South Korean nationals who have studied for at least three years in another country during middle or high school — with at least one year of high school included in those three years — can apply for admissions under this special quota system.

Early college admissions will then start their applicatio­n processes beginning Sept. 9. The regular admissions will kick off on Dec. 31.

Amid the ongoing discord over the expansion plan, doctors and the government this time locked horns over the vice education minister’s recent remarks underminin­g the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation’s ability to operate independen­tly and questionin­g their capability to make decisions without external involvemen­t.

During Thursday’s briefing, Vice Education Minister Oh Seok-hwan refuted the claim of the institute’s director that the government’s quota hike plan did not consider the effects it would have on the quality of education.

Oh also expressed deep concerns and regret over the remarks for creating anxiety among students through what he called “baseless speculatio­ns” about the deteriorat­ion of the quality of medical education with the quota increase.

Reacting with fury, four major medical groups — the Korean Medical Associatio­n, Medical Professors Associatio­n of Korea, Korea Associatio­n of Medical Colleges and Korean Academy of Medical Sciences — issued a joint statement Sunday criticizin­g the Education Ministry for playing down the institutio­n’s accomplish­ments in contributi­ng to medical education.