SEJONG — Two new medical schools will be established at Sunchon National University in the southwestern city of Suncheon and Gyeongkuk National University in the southeastern city of Andong, the education ministry announced Wednesday. Starting in 2030, Sunchon and Gyeongkuk universities will admit 60 and 40 medical students annually, respectively. The decision came as part of a key government initiative to establish new medical colleges in regions without medical schools in an effort to improve access to medical services in provincial areas, strengthen public healthcare and address shortages of doctors in essential fields, such as pediatrics and surgery. A government task force comprising officials from the education and health ministries first selected North Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces as sites for the new medical schools after finding they suffer from poor access to medical services and need a foundation for training and retaining physicians. The government then requested the provincial governments to propose suitable universities to host the schools. While the North Gyeongs