The government plans to boost medical school admissions by 2,000 starting in the 2025 academic year, with a goal of adding 10,000 doctors by 2035. The current annual student intake is about 3,000.
With a population of 52 million, South Korea had 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people as of 2022, far below an average of 3.7 for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
A Gallup Korea poll released last week showed around 76 per cent of South Koreans support the plan, amid concerns about an acute shortage of doctors for paediatrics, emergency units and clinics outside the greater Seoul area.
But doctors and medical student groups have argued there are already sufficient physicians and that increasing the number would prompt unnecessary medical care and undermine the finances of the national health insurance plan.
They have also criticised the government for failing to consult and for “demonising” existing doctors.
Park Dan, head of the Korea Interns and Residents Association, said on Facebook that he had submitted his resignation on Monday because of what he called the government’s “messy policy”.