After Pusan National University (PNU) rejected the academic regulations amendment, several universities have followed to halt increasing their medical school quotas. The Ministry of Education (MOE) warned that it would consider administrative measures against universities that reject the expansion plans. With tensions escalating between the government and the medical community, PNU decided to reconsider the amendment. The Faculty Council (FC) strongly opposes this, stating that it goes against the principle of prohibition against double jeopardy.

On May 8th, PNU announced a statement and said that PNU President Cha Jeong-In requested a reconsideration of the amendment for medical school quota expansion. During the faculty meeting on May 7th, which PNU President Cha attended, it was rejected based on the argument that “further social consensus is needed for the expansion” (reported by “Channel PNU” on May 8th, 2024). However, on May 8th, President Cha presided over an interim executive meeting and decided to reconsider the rejected amendment.

PNU announced that it decided to reconsider due to discrepancies between the  admission quota that will be confirmed at the end of this month and the government’s allocated quota. Kim Seung-Ryong, Dean of Academic Affairs, said, “PNU can have the legitimacy to recruit students if the admission quota for PNU medical school matches the government’s allocation. If not, the recruitment will not have legal validity.” President Cha said, “The decision of rejection must be respected, but I request reconsideration at the faculty meeting, as the president who runs the university.” PNU will schedule the faculty meeting for reconsideration as soon as possible.

However, this reconsideration decision appears to be influenced by the MOE’s firm stance. MOE held an unplanned emergency briefing and urged the amendment of regulations. During the briefing, Oh Seok-Gwan, Vice Minister of MOE, said, “As PNU agreed that there is a need for the expansion, we expect that it will amend its regulations through reconsideration.” On the previous day of the briefing through various mainstream media, MOE announced that it would take administrative actions such as halting student recruitment if the amendment of academic regulations ultimately fails.

FC strongly criticizes the reconsideration decision, stating that they will not succumb to the injustice of the MOE. Kim Jeong-Goo (Prof. of Computer Science and Engineering, PNU), the chairman of FC, said, “This decision of reconsideration denies the authority of the faculty meeting itself. It also goes against the principle of prohibition against double jeopardy.” Currently, there is no provision in PNU regulations allowing for the reconsideration of matters that have already been deliberated upon. Kim stated, “We believe that the government’s pressure played a significant role in PNU resorting to reconsideration, as it’s not stipulated in our regulations. We cannot overlook the MOE’s authoritarian decision-making, especially when it concerns the future of Korea.”

On May 8th, the Medical Professors Association of Korea stated, “MOE must not oppressively take any administrative actions such as a correction order and halting student recruitment. It should respect the decision made during the PNU faculty meeting.”

Following PNU, Jeju National University rejected the amendment of academic regulations for medical school quota expansion. Additionally, it is known that national universities such as Kangwon National University, Gyeongsang National University, and Kyungpook National University haven’t revised their regulations although they had allocations for increased medical school quotas. On May 10th, Chosun Ilbo reported that the universities would proceed with the deliberation of the amendment to the regulations after the court ruling. Earlier, the Seoul High Court demanded the government submit specific evidence regarding the increase in medical school admissions in response to the appeal trial for the government’s suspension of execution request filed by 18 individuals, including medical school professors, residents, and medical students, against the Minister of Health and Welfare and the Minister of Education, which put a brake on the government’s initiative to increase medical school admissions.

Reporter Yoon Ji-Won, You Seung-Hyun

Translated by Lee Soo-Hyun