The race to enter medical schools here for the 2025 academic year will kick off this week, starting with the admissions process for international students and South Korean nationals residing overseas, officials said Sunday.

The announcement comes despite continued protests from the medical circle calling on the government to scrap its planned hike, including medical students' boycott of their medical school classes and junior doctors' walkout since February.

Twelve medical schools will open a total of 29 slots for the special admissions of Korean nationals living overseas and international students beginning Monday, according to the Education Ministry.

Korea University, Inha University and Hallym University will each admit one applicant, while Gachon University and the Catholic University of Korea will each open three seats for those educated abroad. Dongguk University WISE campus in North Gyeongsang Province, Sungkyunkwan University, Ajou University, Eulji University and Chung-Ang University will open two slots, respectively. The Catholic Kwandong University and Konkuk University Glocal campus will each accept five students each, which is the maximum quota for international applicants and Korean nationals residing overseas, per institution.

Applications for this special admissions process at nine schools, including Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University, will be accepted starting Monday, while Catholic University plans to accept applications starting Tuesday. Dongguk University's WISE campus and Catholic Kwandong University will open admissions on Sept. 9.

The college application process for international applicants and Korean nationals overseas is referred to as "preferential admissions." It involves extra admissions quotas where the numbers of additional seats are decided depending on each school's capacity. Korean law allows colleges to allocate up to 2 percent of their total enrollment to students who have received a certain number of years of education in other countries.

Currently, applicants who hold foreign citizenship or South Korean nationals who have studied for at least three years in another country during middle or high school -- with at least one year of high school included in those three years -- can apply for admissions under this special quota system.

Early college admissions will then start their application processes beginning Sept. 9. The regular admissions will kick off on Dec. 31.

Amid the ongoing discord over the expansion plan, doctors and the government this time locked horns over the vice education minister's recent remarks undermining the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation's ability to operate independently and questioning their capability to make decisions without external involvement.

During Thursday's briefing, Vice Education Minister Oh Seok-hwan refuted the claim of the institute's director that the government's quota hike plan did not consider the effects it would have on the quality of education.

Oh also expressed deep concerns and regret over the remarks for creating anxiety among students through what he called "baseless speculations" about the deterioration of the quality of medical education with the quota increase.

Reacting with fury, four major medical groups -- the Korean Medical Association, Medical Professors Association of Korea, Korea Association of Medical Colleges and Korean Academy of Medical Sciences -- issued a joint statement on Sunday criticizing the Education Ministry for playing down the institution's accomplishments in contributing to medical education.

"The KIMEE led the role in elevating Korea's medical system to its current high standard. ... We hope that the institution's independence and autonomy will not be further undermined," the statement read.