Mokpo National University sues over alleged legal violations in medical school selection

Mokpo National University has taken the selection of Sunchon National University for a new national medical school to court, arguing that the evaluation process broke the law.

The university said on the 3rd that it filed a lawsuit at Gwangju District Court against the mayor of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City. It is seeking to cancel the decision to select Sunchon as the candidate and recommend it to the education minister. Mokpo also asked the court to suspend the decision’s effect while the case proceeds.

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The selection and recommendation of Sunchon National University as the candidate for a new medical school violated the law.

Mokpo’s central objection concerns Sunchon’s plan to secure land for the medical school. The university says the Regulation on the Establishment and Operation of Universities, a presidential decree, states that medical school sites should in principle be state-owned. Sunchon’s proposal instead included leasing land owned by Suncheon City at no cost, Mokpo said.

Jeonnam-Gwangju announced on the 30th of the previous month that it had selected Sunchon and recommended it to the Ministry of Education. Sunchon received 89.15 points, compared with 87.85 for Mokpo, a margin of 1.3 points. The certainty of securing the site accounted for five points in the evaluation.

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Clear violations of the law were confirmed in Sunchon National University’s plan to secure the site.