People's Power: ”Next year's medical school quota of 3,058 students is realistically appropriate... The government should actively consider this” = South Korea

On the 6th, the People's Power Party (ruling party) stated its intention to accept the proposal to return the 2026 medical school admission quota to 3,058 students, stating that it "deems this to be realistic and appropriate."
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People's Power Party, attended a closed-door party and government meeting held at 2 p.m. on the same day to discuss the medical school support plan.
After the meeting, he met with reporters at the National Assembly and said, "The People's Power Party believes that the normalization of education at medical schools is urgent, and we believe that the recommendations of the Council of Deans of Medical Schools are realistic and appropriate."
I hope that the medical community will actively consider the contents of this proposal and correct the medical school education system. The power of the people is the heart of all parents of students, and we hope that the normalization of medical schools will be accelerated and that students will be able to continue to study in the future.
"We will continue to proactively resolve the medical school recruitment issue so that students can focus on their studies and parents do not have to worry about their students," he said.
The Korean Medical School Presidents' Association (KMSA), which is a gathering of 40 university presidents, and the Korean Medical School and College of Medicine Association (KMCA), which is a gathering of medical school presidents nationwide, are
The Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Graduate Schools (KAMC) had previously agreed to a plan to reset the medical school quota for next year to 3,058 students, the same level as in 2024.
Finance Minister Lee, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho, Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong and other government officials and the People's Power held a closed-door party-government meeting that afternoon to discuss the matter.
Regarding the proposal submitted to Vice Premier Lee by the medical community and medical schools, Kwon said, "The proposal states that medical students should return to university and that the number of students admitted to medical schools in 2026 should be kept at 30,000, the same as in 2024.
"The number will be adjusted to 58, and from fiscal 2027 onwards, the number of recruits will be decided based on the decisions of the Medical Personnel Estimation Deliberation Committee under the Basic Act on Health and Medical Care," he explained.
Kwon said, "For now, the most urgent task is for students to return to their universities. If the deans of medical schools were to adjust the number of students to 3,058,
"If they can do that, we will actively persuade the students to participate in classes," he suggested, so we will first make a decision based on the students, and from 2027, the number of staff will be decided by the Additional Medical Personnel Review Committee.
"Now is not the time to compete over the government's feelings or pride, but rather, we need to somehow get students back as soon as possible and get things back to normal, which is what students and parents need," he said.
"This is good for the medical school and it's something the students themselves need. We will give in to our previous thinking and hand over the credit to the medical students," he added.