The Korean Federation of University Student Councils, or "Hanchongryun" in Korea, has campaigned vigorously against corruption in the nation. Students pushed their opinions in a unified voice and Student movements have occurred across the country. Currently we can see an increase in groups and voices opposing the student movement. Their opinions are dividing our thinking into many facets.
For example, lately the voter turnout for the election of the chief of the General Student Association (GSA) was below 50%. Therefore, no one became the president of student councils at Seoul National Univ. and Korea Univ. We can see that the influence of student-activists is decreasing and non student-activists are gaining popularity.
KyungHee University (KHU), had the first non student-activist chief of the GSA on a Seoul campus. The point is that the removal of the U.S. Armed Forces from Korea, the opposition to sending troops to Iraq and the abolishment of the National Security Law were not the promises before they got elected. Students need and expect more realistic or maybe problems "closer to home" to be solved. Their interests have changed and non student-activists won.
However, after the election students' situations got tougher. First of all tuition matters dissatisfied all. A 6.8% increment was accepted by the students who were elected. Students needed power to clean up realistic matters. The GSA expected them to struggle. And there was no publicity promoting freshman gatherings. Just a few days before the gathering day a notice came upon the KHU homepage. Surely a lot of student missed this announcement. Other chiefs of student associations in various majors distrust them while they move with their own decisions. They didn't even consult with the Suwon campus GSA. This situation is a confused mess like that of Yonsei Univ.
The chief must be a leader who leads or guides the students. So they should work in harmony with students. And they must note that students are in partnership with the leaders. Disagreements of extraordinary matters and amendments to the partnership agreement require the consent of all partners. Students are a constant source of the GSA's power and companionship. Without them, the GSA would not be able to do anything well.
-By Lee Sang-dong (Chief editer of KyungHee Univ.)
-The USCEN Effect will provide editorials of the English press registered to the Union of Seoul region Campus English Newspaper (USCEN) to share contentious issues arising in other universities. The University Life of KyungHee Univ. will be the first to contribute its editorial.