Under a program the government plans to introduce next year, a selected group of applicants will be admitted to 32 medical schools outside Seoul and the surrounding area and have their expenses covered, on the condition that they practice in the regions where the schools are located for at least ten years after obtaining their medical licenses.

The health ministry on Tuesday issued legislative notices for enforcement ordinances and regulations under the new system and will invite opinions until February 2.

The 32 medical schools represent nine major regions, excluding Seoul, and the applicants must be residents of the regions where the schools are located and be graduates of middle and high schools outside Seoul.

Those who attended middle and high school in Gyeonggi Province or Incheon are eligible, but only if their schools were in the Gyeonggi communities of Uijeongbu, Dongducheon, Yangju, Yeoncheon, Guri, Namyangju, Gapyeong, Yangpyeong, Icheon, Yeoju or Pocheon, or the Incheon communities of Seo, Jung, Dong, Nam, Ganghwa or Ongjin.

The selected students will receive state support to cover tuition, housing and meals, and the health and education ministers are expected to consult on how many students to send to each region in consideration of demographics and the distribution of underserved areas.

Any graduates who violate the condition to practice in their designated regions for ten years could face fines of up to five million won, or around three-thousand-400 U.S. dollars, and could lose their licenses if the violations continue.