Med students' strong opposition

[Anchor]

In response to the school's policy of rejecting leave of absence requests, a group of medical students has strongly protested, stating they are prepared to take legal action.

The Korean Medical Association has also expressed its support, stating they will fight through strikes and other means.

It seems that a large-scale expulsion could genuinely occur.

Reporter Park Min-kyung has the story.

[Report]

As the deadline for medical students from Yonsei University, Korea University, and Kyungpook National University to return approaches tomorrow (Mar. 21), national medical student organizations have taken a hardline stance.

The medical student organization stated in a statement that the leave of absence requests submitted legally remain valid, and they have decided to consider legal action if students on leave face unfair treatment.

They also criticized the rejection of leave requests as an unreasonable decision made in collusion by the university presidents based on arbitrary guidelines from the Ministry of Education.

The Korean Medical Association has stated that if expulsions actually occur, they will lead the fight and support the medical students.

They added that while they are considering strikes, they hope such situations do not arise.

[Kim Seong-geun/Korean Medical Association Spokesperson: "If more than 10,000 medical students are expelled, can we really expect a future for healthcare? The Korean Medical Association will respect each medical student's judgment."]

The Emergency Response Committee of the Yonsei University Medical School Faculty has also urged the government to cancel the policy of collectively denying leave of absence requests.

They stated they will support students' legitimate rights to take general leave and protect them from any disadvantages.

[Ahn Seok-kyun/Chairman of Emergency Response Committee of Yonsei University Medical School Faculty: "Next year, thousands of students may find themselves in a situation where they cannot re-enroll. If there are measures to address that, those measures should be discussed and orders should be issued."]

As 40 universities nationwide have decided to reject all collective leave of absence requests from medical students by tomorrow, the ongoing conflict between the medical community and the government, which has lasted for over a year, is likely to escalate into a large-scale expulsion crisis for medical students.

This is KBS News, Park Min-kyung.