South Korea will slightly increase the number of medical school admissions to alleviate the shortage problem.

On Tuesday (February 10th), the South Korean government announced a plan to gradually increase the number of medical school admissions, aiming to alleviate the long-standing shortage of doctors in the country.

Bloomberg reported that previously, the previous government of South Korea, due to its efforts to significantly increase recruitment, triggered an unprecedented 18-month-long strike in the healthcare industry.

According to the plan, the number of admissions at the Korean Medical College will increase to 3,548 next year, a 16% increase compared to the previous baseline quota. Subsequently, the quota will be gradually increased, reaching 3,871 by 2030. The government has promised to build new medical colleges to alleviate the shortage of doctors.

According to the health statistics released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2025, South Korea has 2.7 clinical doctors per 1,000 people, which is significantly lower than the average level of developed economies.

The increase in the enrollment scale this time is much smaller than the 2,000 additional places proposed by the previous government. The previous proposal had led to a large-scale strike by intern doctors, and medical students also began to boycott enrollment starting from February 2024. Eventually, the proposal was cancelled.