Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong said there is no specific timeline for expanding the medical school enrollment quota, but "the announcement could come early."

Cho made the remark in response to a question from Rep. Kim Won-i of the Democratic Party of Korea at the National Assembly's ministry audit on Wednesday.

"Some in the medical community say that the government may suddenly announce the plan (to expand medical school seats) next week," Kim asked. “Do you have fixed a concrete timeline regarding the announcement of the plan to increase the number of medical students?”

Minister Cho responded, "We are preparing to reflect it in the 2025 college entrance examination. We need to survey each school and receive applications for (the increase). We will announce it in time (for the 2025 entrance exam)."

However, Cho left open the possibility of an abrupt announcement, saying, "We could announce (the medical school expansion plan) quickly, or we may need to consider it (a little longer). At stake is how to prepare for an increase in medical school enrollment quotas for the 2025 university entrance exam."

He also said that no decision has been made as to what extent the number of medical school students will increase.

According to the ministry's "Physician Manpower Reference Data (January 2023)," disclosed by another DPK lawmaker, Rep. Jung Choun-sook in the parliamentary audit, if the number of medical school students, which has been set at 3,058 per year for 18 years from 2006, is increased by 1,000 per year from 2024 to train 10,000 more, the number of doctors (excluding oriental medicine doctors) per 1,000 people will be 3.0 in 2035.

This is 66.7 percent of the average OECD projection of 4.5 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants in 2035. Based on this, Rep. Jung pointed out that even if the number of medical school students increased by 1,000 yearly, it would not reach the OECD average.

Minister Cho said, "We are consulting with the medical community on the size of medical school students. We will also consider ways to utilize the current medical workforce, given that even if we expand the appropriate number of medical schools now, it will take 10 years for them to work in the field."

He was cautious about establishing a public medical school, often mentioned in conjunction with expanding the number of medical school students.

In response to a question from Rep. Jung on establishing public medical schools, Cho said, "We will consider establishing public medical schools together with introducing regional medical schools. However, I think it is necessary to remain cautious."

Regarding the establishment of medical schools, he said, "We will also consider establishing medical universities, but the important thing is to create conditions for doctors to settle and practice medicine in the region."

Without that, increasing the number of medical schools will only deepen the imbalance, so it is essential to work out supplementing policies, Cho added.