Suncheon, Yeosu, Gwangyang residents rally against special city mayor over medical school dispute

Suncheon National University alumni association holds rally, vowing to defend the rights of 860,000 residents in South Jeolla Province's eastern region

The alumni association of Suncheon National University held a mass rally denouncing Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the Gwangju-South Jeolla Special Metropolitan City, accusing the newly merged administrative body of favoring Mokpo National University in mediating a dispute over a university merger and medical school placement.

The rally, titled "Citizens' Rally for the Establishment of a Medical School and University Hospital in Eastern South Jeolla Province," was held one hour before scheduled negotiations between Suncheon National University and Mokpo National University over the location of a medical school and affiliated university hospital. Participants expressed deep distrust of the special city's mediation, saying a "supra-regional integrated medical belt" plan the city unveiled just before the talks was skewed toward the Mokpo area.

About 1,000 people gathered Friday at the plaza in front of Suncheon National University's main gate, including members of the university's alumni association and its democratic alumni chapter, faculty, staff, current students, Assembly members of the Gwangju-South Jeolla Special Metropolitan City, Suncheon city council members, civic group representatives and local residents from the eastern South Jeolla region.

The organizing groups adopted a resolution titled "Declaration to Defend the Right to Life of 860,000 Eastern South Jeolla Residents and Condemn Biased Administration," demanding the immediate withdrawal of the "supra-regional integrated medical belt" plan. "The recently announced plan is the epitome of hasty and biased administration that utterly ignores the desperate essential medical needs of the eastern region," the resolution said.

"The gathering of more than 1,000 citizens and Suncheon National University faculty is not intended to provoke regional conflict, but is a legitimate struggle for survival to protect the minimum safety net for residents of the eastern region," the groups said. They added that "the establishment of a tertiary medical institution and a national medical school is not merely a local campaign pledge — it is the very survival of residents, and no political bargaining can be permitted."

Suncheon National University President Lee Byeong-un, Yeosu YMCA Secretary-General Kim Dae-hui, the alumni association president and other graduates attended the rally. Speakers said a major university hospital is urgently needed in the eastern South Jeolla region, which is home to 860,000 people and is constantly exposed to explosion, fire and serious industrial accident risks from facilities including the Yeosu Petrochemical Industrial Complex, the Gwangyang Steel Mill and the Gwangyang Port container terminal.

Earlier, the Gwangju-South Jeolla Special Metropolitan City had urged the merger of Mokpo National University and Suncheon National University as a path to establishing a medical school, and unveiled its "supra-regional integrated medical belt" plan. The proposal drew a backlash from eastern region residents because it focuses on reorganizing and repurposing existing general hospitals in the east — covering Suncheon, Yeosu, Gwangyang, Goheung, Boseong, Gurye and Gokseong — while calling for the creation of a new medical school, university hospital and medical research hub in the western region, which includes Mokpo, Muan, Sinan, Yeongam, Haenam, Wando, Jindo and Gangjin.

With the conflict over establishing a new national medical school in the South Jeolla region unresolved, Mayor Min, Mokpo National University President Song Ha-cheol, Suncheon National University President Lee Byeong-un, Suncheon Mayor Son Hun-mo, Mokpo Mayor Kang Seong-hwi, and Assembly members Kim Won-i of Mokpo and Kim Mun-su of Suncheon are scheduled to meet Sunday at an undisclosed location to discuss the university merger and medical school placement.

Mokpo National University has proposed a compromise under which the merged university's main campus would be located in Suncheon while the medical school would be placed in Mokpo. Suncheon National University, however, has maintained that the medical school and university hospital must both be located in its area, rather than settling for the main campus alone.