The government has decided to expand the enrollment quota of the 32 non-Seoul medical schools by 668 on average annually between the 2027 and 2031 academic years as part of efforts to strengthen regional, essential and public medical care.

The health ministry said the decision was reached during a meeting of its healthcare policy deliberation committee on Tuesday. 

The ministry plans to expand the admissions quota of such schools by 490 in 2027, by 613 for 2028 and 2029 and by 813 after 2030. In total, such schools would be accepting three-thousand-342 more students during the five-year period. 

With the decision, the admissions quota for non-Seoul medical schools will stand at three-thousand-548 recruits in 2027 and three-thousand-671 in 2028 and 2029. 

Attention is being drawn to whether the government's move to expand the quota after a two-year hiatus will again draw strong backlash from the medical community.