The education ministry has made a formal proposal to the Korean Medical Student Association to sit down for talks. 

The ministry said Thursday that it requested the meeting in a notice sent to the association and students at the nation’s 40 medical schools, explaining that it hopes to start a discussion on how to normalize medical education and what direction that education should take. 

It reportedly has yet to receive any replies.  

On Tuesday, for the first time since the start of the medical education dispute, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho met with medical students at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Korean Academy of Medical Policy. 

At the roundtable, which saw the attendance of some ten medical students, Lee said the ministry plans to set up a medical education committee to reflect students’ views when making policy decisions. 

The ministry apparently approached the students’ association, which is regarded as a hard-line body, to ensure the prompt return of students and to provide a breakthrough in the health care reform dispute.