Boycotting medical students allowed to return in fall semester in S. Korea
Thousands of medical students who have boycotted classes over the government's medical school admissions plan will be allowed to return to the classroom in the fall semester, South Korea's education ministry said Friday, Yonhap reports.
Medical students have been boycotting classes for more than a year in protest of the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. About 8,000 students have been held back a year after refusing to attend classes in the spring semester.
A group of presidents from 40 universities with medical schools delivered a decision to accept the students' return in the fall semester to the government earlier in the day. The education ministry said it respects their stance, effectively accepting the move.
As many of the medical schools organize their courses on a yearly basis, students who had walked out in the spring semester were unable to return midyear and had to wait until the next school year, starting in March.
The group of university chiefs said in a statement it will work with the government so that their medical school curricula are organized on a semester basis.
The group also asked the government to conduct additional national medical license exams to accommodate those who would graduate in August next year and 2027, rather than in February, due to the standoff.
Final-year students who graduate in August 2026 are currently ineligible to take the exam this year as only graduates or students who are within six months of graduation can sit for a series of tests that begin in September.
"We respect the (group's) stance and acknowledge the independence and accountability of each university's academics and plan to actively push for necessary administrative and financial support," the ministry said.
While the move is aimed at normalizing medical school operations, critics said it is excessive preferential treatment for students who walked out.
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 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 this year.
The government later backed down, restoring the 2026 admissions quota to its original level of about 3,000.
Earlier, it was reported more than 560,000 young Koreans spend over a year searching for jobs.
