South Korea’s health ministry said Thursday it plans to expand the intake of nursing school freshmen by 1,000 starting next year, in sync with its plan to boost the number of medical students.
The announcement came after the health ministry announced earlier this week that it will raise the number of freshmen for medical schools by 2,000 to 5,058 starting next year, marking the first increase since 1998.
Following the adjustment, the number of freshmen in nursing schools will be set at 24,883 starting in 2025.
“We plan to gradually increase the number of nurses to address the shortage of nurses,” Deputy Minister for Healthcare Policy Jun Byung-wang said in a statement.
South Korea has been increasing the number of freshmen in local nursing schools, which is currently double the 11,686 tallied in 2008. Over the period, the number of nurses for every 1,000 people rose from 2.16 to 5.25.
The number of licensed nurses was estimated at 509,000 in 2023.
The government estimates the country will run short of 5
6,000 nurses by 2035.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
