Medical schools to increase up to 1,509 seats for 2025

South Korea will see an increase of additional seats in medical school admission next year ranging from 1,489 to 1,509, said the Ministry of Education Thursday, less than the 2,000 slots the government had initially allocated.

The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education unveiled the finalized enrollment quota submitted by 31 out of 32 medical schools that have been allocated additional seats. Thirty-one medical schools handed in a total of 1,469 slots to increase by 2025.

For 2026, the medical schools are expected to fully use their allotted quotas, resulting in the addition of 2,000 more admission seats compared to the 2024 level, the ministry said.

One remaining medical school, Cha University, was excluded from the finalized data presented Thursday. It is not obligated to submit its changing seats as it is a graduate medical schools that students can enroll in after graduating with a bachelor’s degree of four years.

Once Cha University decides to increase the minimum 50 percent of the allocated enrollment seats, which is 20, the enrollment for the entire medical school in the country adds up to 1,489 and 1,509, if it recruits 100 percent of the maximum number of seats.

Including the current total quota of 3,058 for the country's 40 medical schools, the revised medical school quota for 2025 will range from 4,547 to 4,567 in total.

This comes after the government allowed medical schools to flexibly adjust their respective admission seats within a 50 to 100 percent range of their newly allotted quotas for the 2025 academic year.

All nine state-run medical schools outside the capital area have decided to use only half of their allotted quotas.

Chungbuk National University, which was granted the largest increase of 151 new admission spots, settled on increasing 76 seats, having 125 total slots for 2025.

Kangwon National University will recruit 91 students, adding 42 new seats, half of its initial assigned quota.

Kyungpook National University and Chungnam National University, which have 110 seats in their current quota, have decided to accept 45 additional medical students for next year, half of the initially proposed increase.

Gyeongsang National University, Jeonbuk National University and Jeju National University will recruit 62, 29 and 30 new students, respectively, coming to half the planned expansion.

Most private schools, on the other hand, have chosen to fully use their allotted quotas except for five universities.

Private schools such as Sungkyunkwan University, Ajou University and University of Ulsan each decided to recruit 110 students, increasing 70 of the 80 newly allocated seats.

The limit has been capped at 3,058 per year since 2006, when it was lowered from 3,507 to assuage doctors protesting the policy of separating the prescribing and dispensing of drugs at that time.

The Korean Council for University Education will review and approve the submitted request of respective universities by the end of May, and then each school will upload the final numbers on their websites by the end of this month, said the ministry.