The health ministry and the Korean Medical Association(KMA) sat down for their weekly meeting on Wednesday to discuss issues of increasing the enrollment quota for medical students and of managing medical licenses. 

In a statement, Jung Kyung-shil, head of the ministry's healthcare policy bureau, said the government will pursue the policy on increasing the enrollment quota for medical students in an expeditious manner, calling on the KMA to actively support the effort.

Jung said securing a qualitative medical education is a crucial factor that will determine the future of the nation's medical service.

The KMA's chief negotiator Yang Dong-ho, on his part, said there is growing concern that the government's move to increase the enrollment quota for medical students will lead to a massive secession by science and engineering talents.

Yang claimed that the government's policy, which was drafted to revive essential medical services and such services in rural areas, has deteriorated over time and has come to show a number of side effects.