The Seoul High Court is set to decide on Thursday the fate of the government’s plan to increase the medical school admissions quota. 

A court official said on Thursday that unless there are any special circumstances, the court plans to deliver its decision at around 5 p.m. on the doctors groups’ request to suspend the implementation of the planned quota hike. 

If the court rejects the injunction filed by medical school professors, trainee doctors and medical students, the government is likely to accelerate the implementation of its plan to increase the quota for the first time in 27 years. If the court accepts the injunction, the government will encounter a serious setback.

Whatever the court’s decision, the unsuccessful party is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. However, it’s impossible for the top court to make a ruling before medical schools decide their admissions quotas for the 2025 academic year, which is expected to happen late this month or early next month. 

In the first trial, the Seoul Administrative Court dismissed the medical circle's request to suspend the quota hike, saying that medical professors are "not eligible" to file an injunction request.

The high court, however, requested the government submit materials showing the basis of its decision to increase the admissions quota by two-thousand starting next year and asked the government to halt the process of increasing the quota until the court makes its decision.