Professors at 33 Korean medical schools have filed a lawsuit to cancel the government's plan to increase in medical school student quotas. The defendants are the minister of health and welfare and the minister of education.

Representatives of the faculty councils of 33 medical schools nationwide said Tuesday that they filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court to nullify the decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 for the 2025 academic year and subsequent decisions. They also applied to a temporary order to suspend execution.

Lee Byung-cheol, a lawyer at the law firm Chanjong representing medical professors, called the decision to expand the medical students "a medical tyranny that violates constitutional principles" and said that the decision by the minister of health and welfare, who does not have the authority to decide on increasing the number of students admitted to universities, was "naturally invalid," noting that the Higher Education Act gives the education minister authority to decide on the expansion.

"The subsequent action taken by the minister of education after receiving the notification on the health and welfare minister's decision to increase enrollment was also invalid," the lawyer said.

Lee added that the decision also violated the constitutional principles of due process and trust protection, making it unconstitutional.

"The decision to increase medical student admissions was made without any consultation with direct stakeholders, medical professors, students, and trainee doctors," Lee said, "It is a political act hastily pushed for the general election, violating the political neutrality of education."

Lee went on to say, "It violated the agreement between the Korean Medical Association and the government on Sept. 4, 2023, which stated that the government will not unilaterally increase the number of medical schools. It also violates the constitutional principle of prohibition of excess, as it will cause an irreversible collapse of medical schools and the medical market and cause irreparable damage to the scientific field by attracting talented people from the sciences to medical schools."

The representatives of the 33 medical school faculty councils who filed the lawsuit said, "We file this lawsuit with the heart of a bellman that rings the bel of liberal democracy and the rule of law to defend the constitutional value of the right to life."

"The Yoon Suk Yeol administration seems to be advocating the 'determinism' of Karl Schmidt, who praised Hitler's regime," they said. "The government claims that the president's 'determination' trumps democracy."

The council went on to say, "When a dictator destroys the constitution, and the people are drowning in propaganda and do not know the truth, the guardian of the constitution and justice is the judiciary. We pray that the honorable court will be the guardian of justice."