Only about half of foreign medical school graduates passed the preliminary examination for Korean medical licensure this year.

Graduates of foreign medical schools must pass the preliminary exam, which is divided into a written and practical exam before they can take the main exam, the National Medical Licensing Examination. The preliminary exam has been in place since 2005, and candidates must pass the first written test before taking the second practical test.

According to data Rep. Jeon Jin-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) received from the Korea Healthcare Personnel Licensing Examination Institute on Thursday, 101 candidates from 16 countries took the second practical examination for the preliminary medical license examination held in July. Of those, 55 passed, for an overall pass rate of 54.5 percent.

Hungary had the most candidates with 67, followed by Uzbekistan with six, and the United States and Russia with five each.

The acceptance rates by country were 61.2 percent for Hungary, 40 percent for Russia, 20 percent for the U.S., and 16.7 percent for Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan, which had two test takers, and Norway, New Zealand, and Brazil, which had one test taker, recorded 100 percent pass rates.

Grenada, Taiwan, Belarus, and Japan had one applicant each, but all failed.

According to data received by former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Shin Hyun-yung from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 55.42 percent of foreign medical school graduates passed the preliminary examination for doctors in Korea from 2005 to 2023. Only 41.4 percent passed the national examination and were issued Korean medical licenses.

In May, the Health and Welfare Ministry amended the enforcement rules of the Medical Service Act amid the government-doctor conflict to allow doctors with a medical license to practice in Korea without obtaining a Korean license during the severe stage of the healthcare disaster crisis alert regardless of their country or school of graduation.