Med school reinstatement deadline

[Anchor]

Today (Mar. 31) was the deadline for medical school return registration set by the government.

Following the so-called Big Five schools, the movement of students returning is continuing in other schools as well.

However, it remains to be seen whether this will lead to the normalization of medical school classes.

Reporter Go Ah-reum has the story.

[Report]

At a medical school in Seoul, the deadline for returning has arrived.

The darkened lecture halls remain unchanged, but on this so-called 'D-Day', students are in a more cautious mood.

[Medical Student/Voice Altered: "(Are you registering today?) No. We can't talk about that."]

The collective action that has lasted for over a year in the face of a large-scale expulsion crisis are reaching a turning point.

Starting with Yonsei University and Seoul National University, all students from the so-called 'Big 5' medical schools have decided to register for return, and there has been a movement of students returning observed in other medical schools, including provincial ones, which were initially hesitant due to the expansion of admission numbers.

[Medical Student/Voice Altered: "(Originally) about 8 students were attending classes, but the enrollment number has increased to 17, that's about all I can say...."]

The government, which had declared that large-scale expulsions would be inevitable after the deadline, has stated that it will observe the situation for a few more days.

However, there are still concerns about so-called 'fake registrations', where students register but refuse to attend classes.

It is reported that while all students from this medical school have applied for readmission, 75% expressed in an internal vote that they intend to continue collective actions, such as submitting leave of absence forms.

[Jeong Hyeong-seon/Professor of Health Administration at Yonsei University: "It is based on the premise that the vast majority of medical students will participate in classes normally. Returning the admission quota to 3,058 based on the (current) returns registration numbers without confirming their actual attendance would be a breach of promise."]

The Ministry of Education plans to tally the registration rate based on actual class participation, so it may take time to finalize the quota for medical school admissions for next year.

This is KBS News, Go Ah-reum.