Med students urged to take classes to restore education, medical services

South Korea’s medical sector has been in turmoil ever since former President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to barrel through with his controversial reform policy, which initially included a major increase in the medical school enrollment quota of 2,000 places per year for five years.

Yoon's push triggered an intense backlash, leading to mass walkouts by trainee doctors and medical students.

Although Yoon was removed from office after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment on April 4, the 14-month standoff between the government and the medical community shows little signs of resolution.

The immediate concern is that while medical students have returned to school, many of them continue to boycott classes. Their refusal to attend them threatens to reignite a dispute that had appeared to be nearing resolution following the government’s decision to roll back its plan to increase the quota for 2026.

Last year, despite vehement protests, the Yoon administration increased the medical school quota for the 2025 school year by 1,509 seats — the first increase in the 3,058-student admission quota that has been frozen since 2006.

The move was designed to address a chronic shortage of medical professionals in South Korea’s rapidly aging society.

In a conciliatory gesture last month, the Education Ministry stated it would restore the quota of new medical students to 3,058 for the 2026 school year — on the condition that students return to class and the academic operations normalize.

However, uncertainty persists. This week, student representatives announced that they would stick to the strategy of registering for the new term while continuing to boycott classes — a tactic dubbed “register now, fight later.”

The move came after student representatives from six medical schools — including Yonsei, Sungkyunkwan, Korea and Catholic universities — issued a joint statement on April 9, affirming their commitment to the protest, citing the lack of a meaningful response from the authorities.

Yet the students’ defiance is both poorly timed and counterproductive. Refusing to attend classes could only heighten tensions with university administrations and the government. With no viable alternative proposals offered, the student stance risks backfiring, potentially inviting sanctions such as academic probation or expulsion. Public frustration is also mounting, as the continued boycott disrupts not only efforts to normalize the crippled medical services but also preparations for the 2026 admission cycle.

Universities, for their part, are adopting a firm stance. Administrators indicated they will treat mass absenteeism not as a form of protest but as academic misconduct. The Education Ministry has also made it clear that the leniency shown last year will not be repeated.

Yonsei University is set to place first- through third-year medical students on academic probation. Korea University is also poised to send probation notices to 125 students. Other universities are reportedly considering similar actions this week.

If disciplinary measures are implemented on a broad scale, medical schools could face an unprecedented crisis. Students from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 academic years could find themselves taking first-year courses simultaneously — a much-dreaded scenario now being referred to as “medical school tripling.” While universities have explored ways to accommodate a cohort double the usual size, of 7,500 students, through revamped curricula and extended summer terms, they warn the system will collapse under the strain of more than 10,000 first-year students.

The implication is clear: if students continue to boycott classes, the government is constrained — both politically and administratively — from offering further concessions. It shouldn't be. While the government initially aimed to finalize next year’s admissions policy in early April, that decision now hinges on classroom attendance in the days ahead. A government official noted that a final decision on the admissions quota could be made before the weekend.

Medical students must understand that the integrity of their education and the restoration of South Korea’s strained medical services depend on their prompt return to class. The longer they remain absent, the more their actions risk becoming a liability — not only for themselves but for their profession and the patients they want to care for.