Medical doctors stage a rally against the government's medical reform outside the National Assembly in Seoul, June 18. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok

A major doctors' lobby group demanded Sunday the government cancel its plan to raise the medical school admissions quota for 2025 and 2026 and discuss the possible quota adjustment for 2027 or afterward.

Officials of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) made the call after the government last week said it is willing to revise the plan for 2026 if the medical community presents a "reasonable" option.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has vowed to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats per year over the next five years or so to address a shortage of doctors and finalized in June a quota hike of some 1,500 students for next year.

In protest, a majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February, causing serious disruptions to the national health care system.

"The government must nullify the plan to increase medical school seats for 2025 and 2026 and discuss the possible adjustment for 2027 or afterwards," a KMA official said.

"It is a precondition for our joining of a joint consultative body with the government and parties, but I don't think we need to deliver the stance again to them as we've made it clear that a drastic increase is absurd," the official added.

The government and the ruling People Power Party have also proposed the establishment of a joint consultative body involving rival parties and the medical community to seek a breakthrough.

KMA chief Lim Hyun-taek said in an online post Saturday that the government and rival parties need to come up with "a reasonable, unified proposal" to resolve the current medical crisis.

But the government has said it is not possible to revisit the quota hike plan for next year as procedures for college entrance are already under way. (Yonhap)