Korea to establish 2 new regional medical schools by 2030

South Korea has selected Sunchon National University and Gyeongkuk National University to establish new medical schools, aiming to admit their first students in 2030 with a combined annual intake of 100, the government said Wednesday.

The Education Ministry and the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Sunchon National University in Jeonnam-Gwangju, formed by the merger of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, will have an annual enrollment quota of 60 students. Gyeongkuk National University in North Gyeongsang Province will have 40.

The move comes as Korea seeks to address a persistent shortage of doctors in rural areas, where residents often struggle to access essential medical services.

According to the OECD's Health at a Glance 2025 report, Korea had 2.7 practicing doctors per 1,000 people, below the OECD average of 3.9.

In February, the government approved a combined annual intake of 100 students at new regional medical schools for the 2030 and 2031 academic years. The two ministries established a joint task force in July to oversee the selection of regions and universities.

The task force selected Jeonnam-Gwangju and North Gyeongsang Province as priority areas after assessing access to medical schools, shortages of medical personnel, weaknesses in regional health care systems and the potential benefits of establishing new schools.

The selection of Sunchon National University comes amid a prolonged dispute with Mokpo National University, which had also sought to establish a medical school in the same region.

The two universities had initially pursued a merger to establish a medical school at the merged university but failed to agree on the school's location.

Following the breakdown of negotiations, the local government conducted a separate selection process through the Jeonnam Research Institute and recommended Sunchon National University on Aug. 30 as its sole candidate.

Mokpo National University protested the decision, arguing that the evaluation process was rushed and unfair. It has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the selection and recommendation.

Rep. Kim Won-i of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, whose constituency includes Mokpo, began a hunger strike on Friday, calling for a review of the selection process.

Addressing the controversy Wednesday, the government said it had reviewed the allegations surrounding Sunchon National University's nomination but found no grounds to reject the recommendation.

"Although various concerns were raised regarding the process of recommending Sunchon National University, we determined that there were no procedural defects serious enough to warrant rejecting the recommendation," the ministries said in a joint statement, adding that multiple external legal reviews had reached the same conclusion.

The ministries said the allocation reflected differences in regional health care needs and medical education capacity.

For Sunchon National University, the government considered limits on the number of students a new medical school could accommodate in its initial years. For Gyeongkuk National University, it also took into account Dongguk University's existing medical school in southern North Gyeongsang Province, which has an annual enrollment quota of 55 students.

The government said it would review possible additional places from 2032 as part of a physician workforce assessment scheduled for 2029. The review will consider the universities' readiness, medical education accreditation status, changing regional health care needs and local governments' efforts to train physicians.

To oversee the establishment of the new schools, the government plans to form regional committees comprising local government officials, university representatives and medical experts. The two ministries will also establish a joint support team to monitor progress.

"With today's announcement, the government's initiative to establish medical schools in underserved regions has officially entered the implementation stage," Vice Education Minister Choi Eun-ok said.