Mokpo National University and Suncheon National University will continue negotiations over the establishment of a medical school and other issues through Aug. 10, as the two institutions remain at odds over key disputes including the location of the medical school and each university's main campus.
South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae held an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon at the Jangheung Wood Industry Support Center with Mokpo National University President Song Ha-cheol, Suncheon National University President Lee Byeong-un, Mokpo Mayor Kang Seong-hwi, Suncheon Mayor Son Hun-mo, and Assembly members Kim Won-i, Kim Mun-su and Kwon Hyang-yeop to discuss the medical school issue.
The closed-door meeting lasted about three hours. The two universities are understood to have reaffirmed their existing positions on the locations of the medical school, university hospital and main campuses.
"I asked the government, including the Ministry of Education, to give the two universities until the 10th to continue negotiations," Min said.
The two universities will accordingly proceed with further negotiations over the locations of the medical school, main campuses and university hospitals.
Mokpo National University recently proposed a compromise under which the merged university's main campus would be placed in Suncheon while the medical school would be located in Mokpo, but Suncheon National University rejected the offer.
Min unveiled a plan for a "super-regional integrated medical belt" — an eastern medical innovation town centered on St. Carollo Hospital in Suncheon, and a western medical town in Mokpo anchored by a new medical school and university hospital.
The Mokpo area has expressed support for the plan, while Suncheon has opposed it on the grounds that the medical school would be placed solely in Mokpo.
The Ministry of Education is set to begin accepting applications for a new medical school this month. Universities seeking to establish one by 2030 were required to submit a joint application by the end of July.
With the deadline for university integration pushed back from the end of July to Aug. 10, attention is now focused on whether a last-minute agreement can be reached.
sij@heraldcorp.com
