Suncheon National University student council opposes medical school compromise plan

Alumni association also rejects mediation proposal

The student council of Suncheon National University expressed concerns Monday over plans to establish a national medical school in South Jeolla Province, saying "the future of the university and the region must not become the subject of political interests or bargaining between localities."

The student council held a press conference in front of Suncheon City Hall Monday afternoon, declaring that "the university's future must be decided by national principles, not politics," and that "any decision pursued according to political calculations while excluding students and university members is unacceptable."

The council argued that establishing a national medical school is a matter of national health policy directly tied to people's lives, and must be judged on objective criteria — including the degree of medical vulnerability and essential medical care conditions, the healthcare supply system, regional medical demand and educational capacity.

The council also raised questions about whether students had been sufficiently involved in discussions over establishing a national medical school in the South Jeolla region and merging universities.

"Where were the students in the process of deciding Suncheon National University's future? Who asked for students' opinions? Who obtained the consent of university members?" the council said, criticizing the proposal as "a political design serving the interests of a specific region — one that concentrates core functions in one area while demanding sacrifice from another."

Earlier, the transition committee of Special City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae floated a mediation proposal between Suncheon National University and Mokpo National University, suggesting that the main campus and medical school be placed at Mokpo National University while a university hospital be built at Suncheon National University first. Mokpo National University accepted the proposal, but Suncheon National University and the local community turned against it.

The Suncheon National University Democratic Alumni Association also issued a statement Monday, strongly condemning what it called a "unilateral deadline" set by the transition committee's Great Transformation Planning Committee to pressure Suncheon National University into accepting the mediation plan. The association said the proposal — which would concentrate the university's main administrative body and medical school in one city (Mokpo) while building only a hospital without a medical school in another (Suncheon) — "would not only undermine the organic academic operations of the university, but also weaken the higher education foundation of a specific region."