Overview

• The Korean Medical Student Association announced on July 12 that students will return to classes after a 17-month boycott without setting a specific start date.
• Prime Minister Kim Min-seok called the decision a “big step forward” and pledged to pursue solutions to ongoing medical education disputes.
• Students are demanding restoration of the academic calendar, structural reforms in training and establishment of a long-term task force.
• The Education Ministry has imposed grade retention on 8,305 students across 40 medical schools as a consequence of the prolonged walkouts.
• Trainee doctors remain off their hospital posts while negotiations continue over conditions for resuming clinical training.