Ministry of Education issues second academic warning over medical students repeating the year: ”Collective leave of absence citing personal circumstances is not allowed” - South Korea

On the 18th, the Ministry of Education sent a public document to 40 medical schools (including medical graduate schools) across the country emphasizing its policy that "large-scale collective leave of absence for medical students is not possible."
In an official document sent on the same day, the Ministry of Education warned that "group absences as part of collective actions cannot be a valid reason for absence."
They further argued that "the large-scale applications for leave of absence will disrupt the normal academic management of the entire university, worsen the educational conditions at the university, and cause great harm to other colleges and students."
In particular, the mass suspension of medical students that has been ongoing since last year is threatening to "cause serious damage to the health and lives of the nation's citizens, with a grave impact on the health care system, which is the core foundation of the nation."
The Ministry of Education also emphasized, "Medical schools are responsible for managing the educational curriculum in relation to the large-scale group leave and reinstatement of medical students. We will take into consideration the educational conditions of the universities and make decisions on whether or not to approve leave of absence."
Although the government ostensibly cited personal reasons as the main issue, it essentially said that it would not approve applications to take part in collective leave of absence.
The Ministry of Education has set the end of this month as the deadline for medical students who left school in protest against the government's policy to increase the number of medical school students to return.
If they return to the university, the number of students admitted to the medical school for the 2026 academic year will be returned to the full level of the increase policy (3,058 students). If they do not return to the university, they will be punished according to the university rules (academic warning, repeating the year, expulsion, etc.).
The medical schools of major universities have given students this week and next week as deadlines for returning. There are signs of uncertainty, with some medical students expressing their intention to return, but no large-scale return to school has been announced.
There is no trend towards this yet.