Medical school enrollment expansion plan to be unveiled next month

Instead of providing the full minutes of the Medical School Quota Allocation Committee as requested by the opposition, the Ministry of Education submitted only a report summarizing the results. During the 'Medical School Education Inspection Joint Hearing' conducted by the National Assembly’s Education and Health and Welfare Committees on Friday, opposition lawmakers sharply questioned the Ministry on why the Allocation Committee’s meeting minutes were not preserved and whether they had been destroyed. Initially, opposition members of the Education Committee pushed for the Allocation Committee Chairperson, who presided over the meeting, to be called as a witness. However, the Ministry of Education resisted, citing the principle that Allocation Committee members remain anonymous. The opposition ultimately agreed to forgo the witness in exchange for receiving records that could shed light on the Committee's deliberations.

However, the Ministry of Education only provided a 12-page summary that had already been made public, prompting strong protests from opposition lawmakers. They accused the ministry of breaking its promise to submit more detailed records. Moon Jeong-bok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, argued, "The ministry refused to submit the data because the Allocation Committee's proceedings are not included in the mandatory minutes required by the Enforcement Decree of the Public Records Act."

When Education Commissioner Kim Young-ho questioned, “If the Allocation Committee meeting was so important, why were no records kept? When were they destroyed?” Vice Minister of Education Oh Seok-hwan responded, “I understand it was done during the committee's operation.” However, later in the afternoon, Vice Minister Oh reversed his earlier statement, clarifying, “It was not the destruction of the minutes.” This led to a heated debate over the true status of the documents. The afternoon session was adjourned for about 40 minutes to determine whether the documents in question were actual "minutes" or "meeting reference materials."

Government officials who testified at the hearing expressed regret over the prolonged disruption in medical services due to the expansion of medical school admissions. "We apologize for the inconvenience caused to the public and patients by exposing all the accumulated structural issues during the medical reform process," Senior Secretary for Social Affairs at the Presidential Office Jang Sang-yoon said. "We are committed to resolving this situation promptly by advancing the tasks we have promised."


조유라 기자 jyr0101@donga.com