University students speaking out against NIS election interference

Posted on : 2013-06-21 15:43 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
As evidence grows that NIS interfered in last year’s presidential election, student councils are organizing their response
 calling on the prosecutors to ensure democratic processes
calling on the prosecutors to ensure democratic processes

By Heo Jae-hyun and Um Ji-won, staff reporters

It was Thursday morning, and Lee Sang-hoon, a 22-year-old second-year student in medicine at Seoul National University (SNU) was on his way to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO). He skipped his classes, despite having a final in hematology scheduled just a few days away. “I’m just too angry,” he said. At around the same time, Lee Jae-wook, a 21-year-old third-year student in education at the same school, was also on his way to the SPO. “I wanted to give my support [to the council] and make my voice heard,” he said.

All told, around 80 SNU students gathered at 10:30 that morning in front of the SPO in Seoul’s Seocho district. The student council was holding a press conference to denounce the National Intelligence Service’s interference in last December’s presidential election. Its president, Kim Hyeong-rae, and around 10 other members were present and looking livid. Said one of them, “More classmates turned out than I expected.”

The SNU student council is not known for its activism. The reason for its response to the NIS controversy can be traced to the university’s online community, SNU Life. On June 15, a post went up on the bulletin board there calling on students to sign an “emergency statement” about the NIS’s interference.

“A state organization misled the public with its election interference, insulting and mocking citizens with different views,” it read. “We need to make our voices heard together so that the ‘social justice’ and ‘democracy’ we learned about are a reality rather than just ink on pages.”

The post was viewed more than 9,000 times, and recommended more than 800 times - over four times the average for a popular message. The student council immediately went out to find what students thought.

Standing before the SPO, Lee Sang-hoon explained, “I went on SNU Life and saw that there was a move to issue the statement. That’s what brought me to the press conference. I think it’s a serious crime for state institutions to tamper with an election that is supposed to be fully democratic.”

Lee Jae-wook said, “I think this is something that any thinking person - left or right, conservative or progressive - would view as a crisis of democracy.”

Another press conference was held at noon that day in front of Ewha Womans University in Seoul’s Seodaemun district. Leaders of that school’s student council held the event to announce the start of their own campaign for a statement on the NIS election interference. The school was fairly quiet, most of the students having already finished their finals and left for their summer vacation, but around 20 students stopped to watch the event.

Choe Ju-yeon, a 19-year-old first-year humanities student, said, “There was a finals party, but I came running to take part in the statement. I think the NIS’s election interference is a threat to democracy.”

Another bystander, 22-year-old Kim Ji-min, said, “I agree completely with the statement - in fact, I think it’s about time.”

The Ewha student council, a member of the 21 Century Korean Federation of University Student Councils, also took part in the statement in answer to student demands. Vice President Kim Gyeong-nae said, “We began collecting signatures on Facebook at around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, and less than a day later there were more than 500 students taking part.”

“It’s still spreading,” she added.

Student councils at Kyung Hee University and Sungkonghoe University announced statements of their own on the morning of June 20, with plans to hold a press conference the next day with Dongguk University, where a signature campaign is now under way. At Sookmyung Women’s University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and Hanyang University, the student councils are gathering opinions on possible statements. Statements were also announced the same day by 21 Century Korean Federation of University Student Councils and Workers’ Solidarity Student Group, two student activist organizations. Hwang Chansung of the popular music group 2PM tweeted his support for the statements. “Nothing changes if you sit there and do nothing,” he wrote.

Yang Han-sun, a sociology professor at Ajou University, said the students had “decided this was an issue where they had to make their voices heard, regardless of political affiliation.”

“Seeing that the public has not been critical of a serious violation of laws and norms, conscientious students have started speaking out, without distinctions of ‘activist’ and ‘non-activist,’” Yang added.

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories

Most viewed articles