Education Ministry, Ministry of Health and Welfare select two regional medical schools

Suncheon University chosen after merger talks with Mokpo University collapse

Government says no fatal flaw in recommendation process

Additional seats may be allocated after 2029 workforce reassessment

Medical schools will be established at Suncheon National University and Gyeonguk National University. The incoming class sizes are set at 60 for Suncheon and 40 for Gyeonguk, with the first students targeted for enrollment in 2030. [Gyeonguk University, Suncheon University]
Medical schools will be established at Suncheon National University and Gyeonguk National University. The incoming class sizes are set at 60 for Suncheon and 40 for Gyeonguk, with the first students targeted for enrollment in 2030. [Gyeonguk University, Suncheon University]

Medical schools will be established at Suncheon National University and Gyeonguk National University, with annual intake set at 60 students for Suncheon and 40 for Gyeonguk. The first class is scheduled to enroll in 2030.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Wednesday that the two institutions — Suncheon National University in the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city and Gyeonguk National University in North Gyeongsang Province — had been selected as the sites for new regional medical schools. The government said the goal is to train doctors in areas with poor healthcare access and encourage them to remain there, strengthening regional and essential public medical services.

The government decided in February that the two new regional medical schools would together admit 100 students per year from 2030 to 2031. A planning committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and outside experts then evaluated medical school accessibility, healthcare supply shortfalls and medical vulnerability to select South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province as candidates. The new medical schools were to be established at national universities, on a one-university-one-hospital basis, with accessibility between the medical school and the hospital as a guiding principle.

Seat allocations reflected each university's educational capacity and the regional healthcare situation. The government determined that the South Jeolla school would struggle to operate at 100 students from the outset and assigned it 60 seats. For North Gyeongsang Province, the government took into account the existing Dongguk University medical school in the southern part of the province, which has 55 seats, and assigned 40.

The selection of a South Jeolla medical school had been a source of conflict, with both Mokpo University and Suncheon University competing for the designation. The two schools agreed in November 2024 to end the rivalry, merge and establish a joint medical school. However, they could not reach agreement on where to locate the medical school or the headquarters of the merged university.

The government had initially required the two universities and local governments to submit a joint medical school establishment plan on the premise of a merger. When the two schools failed to agree, the plan submission stalled. The government then directed the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city to select and recommend a single candidate university.

Suncheon University was recommended following a review by the Jeonnam Research Institute. It scored 89.15 points against Mokpo University's 87.85, a margin of 1.3 points. Mokpo University filed a lawsuit to cancel the recommendation and sought a stay of its effect, citing problems with Suncheon University's site acquisition plan and the review process. A court last month dismissed the stay application, ruling that the local government's recommendation was a preliminary step before the Ministry of Education's final decision and could not be considered an administrative disposition subject to litigation. Mokpo University has appealed, and a ruling on the merits of the recommendation process has yet to be issued.

After reviewing explanatory materials from the university and seeking outside legal advice, the government said it found "no flaw serious enough to warrant rejecting the recommendation." It noted that no explicit rule requires a university to have secured ownership of a site before a medical school is selected or seats are allocated, and that a future acquisition plan is also a valid subject of review.

The government will form regional implementation committees to develop detailed plans for the medical schools and their teaching hospitals. When it reassesses physician workforce supply and demand in 2029, it plans to review each university's level of preparation and medical education accreditation status, and to discuss allocating additional seats from 2032 onward.

Deputy Education Minister Choi Eun-ok said the announcement marks the start of full-scale implementation of the regional medical school initiative, a key government policy agenda. "We will work with regional authorities and related ministries to provide full support in building the educational conditions needed so that the new medical schools can begin enrolling students in 2030 and train outstanding medical professionals who will sustain regional healthcare," Choi said.


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