Medical students of Pusan National University protest the school's medical school quota hike plan in collective action on the campus, May 7. Yonhap

The education ministry warned Pusan National University (PNU) of punitive action, including the suspension of student admissions, on Wednesday a day after the school decided to halt its planned hike in medical school admissions.

The university in the port city of Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was one of 32 schools that were allocated a total of 2,000 additional admission seats by the government in March as part of a medial reform initiative.

The allocation raised PNU's total medical school quota from 125 to 200, but the school had sought to utilize only about 50 percent of the increase to admit 163 medical students for the academic year of 2025.

In a meeting the previous day, however, PNU's academic board rejected a revision of school regulations reflecting the quota expansion, saying that sufficient social debate should precede any medical school quota hike.

PNU is the first of the 32 medical schools to make such a decision.

The education ministry responded on Wednesday that it will issue a rectification order on PNU and proceed with punitive administrative action if the school does not comply.

"We can issue a rectification order if the school's rejection of the (quota) revision is determined to be final," a ministry official said.

"If the order is not obeyed, the ministry plans to take administrative measures, including the suspension of student admissions," the official said.

Cha Jeong-in, president of PNU, later told the press that he has requested the academic board to re-review the quota hike plan for approval. Following the request, the board plans to schedule a meeting in the near future for reconsideration. (Yonhap)