Suncheon National University campus. [Herald DB]
Suncheon National University campus. [Herald DB]

Suncheon National University beat Mokpo National University by just 1.3 points to be selected as the candidate institution for a new national medical school in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region, according to newly released evaluation results.

The Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city said Sunday that the Jeonnam Research Institute, the body tasked with overseeing the selection process, assembled a panel of eight evaluators drawn from a pool of 55 experts nationwide — excluding those from South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and North Jeolla Province — to avoid potential conflicts of interest. The panel included specialists in public medicine and medical school faculty, as well as one expert in fiscal feasibility.

The evaluators convened Saturday at the Coreana Hotel in Seoul to assess the two universities across five criteria: plans for establishing a medical school, securing educational facilities, securing a teaching hospital, recruiting medical faculty, and defining the roles and responsibilities of the medical school and teaching hospital. After excluding the highest and lowest scores for each criterion, Suncheon National University posted a final score of 89.15 points against Mokpo National University's 87.85.

The faculty recruitment plan proved decisive. Suncheon National University scored 21.72 points in that category against Mokpo National University's 20.55 — a gap of 1.17 points that accounted for nearly the entire overall margin of 1.30 points.

Both universities tied at 9.33 points on the medical school establishment plan, and Mokpo National University actually led by 0.35 points on the educational facilities criterion. Suncheon National University held narrow leads on the teaching hospital plan (0.17 points) and the roles and responsibilities category (0.31 points).

Among individual evaluators, one panelist gave Mokpo National University higher marks across all categories, while another gave Suncheon National University equal or higher scores in every area. Overall, six evaluators rated Suncheon National University higher and two favored Mokpo National University.

Suncheon city said in a press release that the eastern region of South Jeolla Province lacks the advanced general hospitals and critical and emergency care infrastructure needed to meet its population and medical demand. The city said the selection of Suncheon National University as the candidate institution goes beyond landing a medical school — it represents an opportunity to guarantee residents' right to life and health.

The city pledged to build close cooperation with local political circles, municipal governments and universities to ensure the process leads to final government approval, secured medical school enrollment quotas and tangible medical infrastructure.

"The time for competition is over — now is the time for responsibility and coexistence," Suncheon Mayor Son Hun-mo said. "We will never take lightly the disappointment and sense of loss felt by residents in the western region, and we will actively work to build a medical system in which both the eastern and western regions can develop together."


klee@heraldcorp.com