Professors stage sit-in, demanding withdrawal of medical student increase policy

They went on a hunger strike to demand that the 2025 medical school enrollment increase be canceled.Faced with the government's announcement that the 2025 medical school enrollment increase is irreversible, professors have gone on a hunger strike, saying it is “not over yet.”

The professors said they decided so out of a sense of personal sacrifice to protect trainee doctors, medical students, regional healthcare, and essential healthcare.

Professor Chae Hee-bok, head of the emergency committee of faculty members at Chungbuk National University College of Medicine Faculty Council, Professor Kim Choong-hyo, deputy head of the emergency committee of Kangwon National University College of Medicine, and Professor Park Pyeong-jae, co-chair of the emergency committee of Korea University College of Medicine gathered at Chungbuk National University College of Medicine and shaved their heads and went on a hunger strike to demand the complete cancellation of the 2025 medical school enrollment increase.

They set Friday morning as a “deadline” and vowed to resign or prolong their hunger strike if the government does not respond until then.

In a statement released before shaving their heads, the three professors demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol “untie the knot he has tied.” They demanded that the 2025 medical school enrollment quota increase be immediately canceled and the 2026 enrollment be discussed.

However, the government said the increase cannot be canceled, noting that the recruitment of new students for the 2025 class already began on Monday.

“It is late but not impossible,” the professors said. They argued that the decision to increase the 2025 class was made unlawfully. "The government should show its sincerity by canceling the 2025 recruitment, the first and minimum requirement made by trainee doctors and medical students.”

They cited Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo and Jang Sang-yoon, senior presidential secretary for social affairs, as officials responsible for the situation, and said, “Punish them sternly so that the present and future of regional and essential medicine will not be destroyed again.”

In addition to the policy to increase the number of medical school students, they also called for the immediate scrapping of the essential medical care policy package, saying it “denigrated the world-class Korean medical care” and “ruined it for political purposes.”

“Rebuild the medical school enrollment policy and essential medical care measures from scratch, led by genuine experts in essential medical care while excluding politicized doctors and public officials,” the statement said.

It described the head-shaving and hunger strike as a "final, desperate plea to the unresponsive government.”

“We’ve done everything we can, but since the government hasn’t responded, we felt we needed to express our desperation through self-sacrifice,” Professor Chae said. “If we can't stop (the student increase) in 2025, there's no way we can discuss it for 2026,” he added, reiterating his call for the government to cancel the increase.

Professor Kim said, “I took on the emergency committee chair because I wanted to protect junior doctors and medical students and regional healthcare. I've been trying to inform the public about the situation, but there has been no response. I didn't want to do this. But I thought this was the last thing I could do as a professor for my students and trainee doctors.”

Kim said he will resign if the government does not respond by Friday.

Professor Park said, “When I took up the emergency committee, I thought I must go on a hunger strike at some point. The government doesn't listen to our voices, and I felt self-sacrifice was the only way to show sincerity to the people.”

“We have set the end date (of the hunger strike) for Friday. But if our voices are not heard, we will do it again,” a tearful Park said. “At that time, we will be prepared to go to extremes. We know this is the only way to protect junior doctors and future generations.”