Medical residents who resigned in protest of the government’s push to increase the medical school enrollment quota will not return to hospitals next year.
According to the recruitment status of trainee doctors for the first half of 2025, a considerable number of training hospitals have also failed to recruit interns and residents.
(Credit: Getty Images)
Some hospitals that have received applications do not disclose detailed departmental figures to “protect” applicants. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Training Environment Evaluation Committee, the total number of first-year recruits for medical residency in the first half of 2025 was 3,594. Still, the confirmed number of trainee doctors applicants did not exceed 100.
Korea Biomedical Review surveyed 81 training hospitals on Monday afternoon after the application deadline.
Sixteen hospitals said they received no applications, 29 hospitals did not disclose the number of applicants, and 36 hospitals disclosed the total number of applicants. Those 36 hospitals that disclosed the total number of applications had 85 applicants.
As 29 hospitals refused to disclose the number of applicants, the total number of applicants could be slightly higher, but the gains are unlikely to be significant. Even in the Big Five hospitals, each of which recruits more than 100 doctors, the total number of applicants is said to be in the “single digits.”
“We decided not to disclose the number of recruited trainee doctors. We can only tell that the number of applicants is in the 'single digits,’” an official from Asan Medical Center, which did not disclose the number of recruited trainee doctors, told Korea Biomedical Review over the phone.
**Some hide the application status of trainee doctors ‘for fear of attack’ on applicants**
Most hospitals cited the need to " protect applicants " as the reason for not disclosing the number of recruited trainee doctors.
The hospitals disclosed recruitment status for the second half of this year in August and September. Afterward, there were attacks on applicants from those who did not apply. Officials said that the hospitals’ non-disclosure policy aims to prevent such attacks from being repeated.
“The government didn't ask us not to disclose (the application status of trainee doctors), but most hospitals are sensitive to disclosure,” said an official at Konyang University Hospital. “We didn't disclose the status of each department. One of the reasons hospitals didn't disclose detailed figures is that there are even fewer applications for essential care departments.”
An official at Kyung Hee University Hospital said, “We decided not to disclose (the application status of medical residents). We need to protect personal information, and the attack (on applicants) during the recruitment for the second half of this year also affected the non-disclosure.”
Other hospitals, including Daegu Fatima Hospital, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Wonkwang University Hospital, Inha University Hospital, Chonnam National University Hospital, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and Dong-A University Hospital have expressed similar positions.
Some hospitals said they could not finalize the number of applicants “because the applicants were under such pressure (from those who did not apply) that they were considering canceling their applications.”
**Yoon’s declaration of emergency martial law also had an effect**
Some also remarked that President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of emergency martial law on Tuesday also adversely affected the application.
“At least there were inquiries before the declaration of martial law, but there have been no inquiries after it,” said an official from a training hospital who requested anonymity. “The low application rate is not surprising because everyone expected it.”
The government will hold a written test on Sunday, next Tuesday, and Wednesday, and the successful applicants will be announced on Thursday.