Will Yoon's investigation uncover the true reason behind the 2025 medical school admissions increase?

On Wednesday, Yoon Suk Yeol became the first sitting president in Korea to be arrested as part of an investigation into charges of leading an insurrection, following the martial law debacle on Dec. 3. In the medical community, attention is focused on whether the investigation will uncover the reasons behind Yoon's persistent push to increase medical school admission quotas for 2025.

Yoon is detained at the Seoul Detention Center following an investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The CIO has until Friday to decide whether to request an arrest warrant. Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea is calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor, and the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of the president is already in progress.

Physicians, who closely followed the president's suspension and subsequent detention, described it as “the downfall of a regime that recklessly pursued irrational policies and sought to silence critics by labeling them as enemies.”

“It’s hard to believe that the issue of expanding medical school seats was the trigger for the president’s downfall,” said a member of the medical school faculty emergency committee, who requested anonymity. “While the nation is saddened by the arrest of a sitting president, we hope this will bring clarity to the controversies and suspicions he has stirred, and pave the way for correcting misguided policies.”

Given the trajectory of his administration, the investigation on Yoon should also address the lingering suspicions surrounding his push for an annual 2,000-seat increase in medical school quotas, the professor said.

“The president’s irrational and reckless behavior before and after the emergency martial law declaration, along with his hostility toward opponents, was already evident during the ‘medical martial law’ process. Just as the investigation on his martial law declaration is progressing, the full truth behind it must also be properly uncovered,” he emphasized.

Another individual involved in medical school education said, “First and foremost, the real reason behind the increase in medical school seats must be uncovered and disclosed to the public.” 

The public needs to understand how flawed and almost “witchcraft-like” the plan to increase 2,000 medical school seats truly was, and it must be reversed, he added. 

“We must ensure that neither medical school quotas nor policies are ever imposed in such a reckless manner again.”

Another medical school professor, who also requested to be unnamed, said, “The weak evidence, the president's arrogance, the irrational loyalty of those involved, and the violent nature of the situation—these elements make the decisions surrounding the martial law declaration and the medical school quota increase eerily similar.”

“Those responsible must be held accountable for reducing the national importance of training future doctors to the realm of shamanism,” he added.

Despite Yoon’s detention, the medical school admissions process for the class of 2025 is almost finalized with an increased number. The total admissions went up from 3,058 to 4,567 across 40 medical schools nationwide. 

However, the government recently said it could consider “decreasing” medical school admissions for 2026.