The presidential office said Sunday it continues to think 2,000 is the number of additional medical school students needed to address a shortage of doctors, dismissing the possibility the quota will be lowered in line with doctors' groups' demands. Sung Tae-yoon, director of national policy at the presidential office, said the decision to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year was reached after making various projections. "We continue to think that is the number of people needed," he said during a press briefing when asked about the possibility of lowering the number. "We initially needed 3,000 to fill the shortage of doctors, but the government is thinking around 2,000 now in consideration of various factors." Thousands of intern and resident doctors in major general hospitals in Seoul and elsewhere have walked off the job since last Tuesday in opposition to the government's plan to raise the quota from the current 3,058. Source: Yonhap News Agency