Lee Chang-Jun (Dept. of Geological Science, 22), General Students’ Association (GSA) president, who has twice refused to convene the Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives over the controversy surrounding “support for abusive politicians,” has expressed his position through personal social media. After two weeks of controversy, this statement is the first to show the GSA’s future direction and explain the situation to students. In response, college student councils’ movements of seeking alternative responses after the refusal of the assembly, has weakened. Non-student council students organized the “Student Group Condemnation Against the GSA President” and voices demanding the resignation of the GSA president or equivalent to it for the controversy are intensifying, indicating that the controversy on campus is likely to continue.

The GSA president posted a statement and explanatory video on his social media regarding the recent controversy over “support for abusive politicians” on March 31st, at around 3pm. Through this, he stated that since he complied with the disciplinary action decided by the disciplinary committee, this incident has been “resolved.” Also, he said he would take on various ethical responsibilities. The moral responsibilities include contributing one million won to the development fund of Pusan National University (PNU), promoting regular volunteer activities for the GSA chairpersons, and pushing for the expansion of the Daedong-Je.

In this statement, the GSA president declared he would employ solid legal measures. He asserted that he did not violate any law or disciplinary rule regarding the current issue and had already complied with the required disciplinary action. Therefore, he argued that there is no legal responsibility to bear. The convening of the assembly was also refused for the same reasons (reported by “Channel PNU” on March 27th, 2024). In his video, he stated, “I officially declare that I will vigorously respond legally to forces that insult me, blame me, or demand other punishments.”

The Central Operations Committee (COC) led by the College Student Councils, which had intended to convene the Assembly, is currently experiencing a setback. COC has yet to propose any specific response. Jang Seo-Yoon (Dept. of Business Administration, 22), vice president of the College of Business Administration Student Council, stated in an interview with “Channel PNU” on April 1st, “Opinions on response strategies continue to emerge within the college student councils, but due to differing stances, we have not been able to determine additional response strategies.”

In these circumstances, the movement by non-student council groups condemning the GSA president is intensifying. They criticize the GSA president for “violating the obligation to convene the assembly” and “arbitrary application of legal interpretation,” demanding that each unit student council take collective action. Student A, a member of the non-student council groups, pointed out, “It is problematic that the executive body of the GSA violated its obligation to convene the assembly based on its discretion, despite the requirement being met. While the GSA president threatens students by mentioning legal action, most student council executives, except for a few, are not presenting any significant response.”

The non-student council groups planned to organize collective actions such as hanging protest banners and picketing for a week from April 1st. They announced that they would post new posters on campus bulletin boards from April 3rd demanding the dismissal of the GSA president. Student B (Dept. of Political Science and Diplomacy), a member of the non-student council groups, stated, “Because non-student council attached posters and banners, student councils gained enough public opinion and justification. I will be the first to take action, so I urge each student council to take action now. This is a request and also a command from the voters.”

Amidst the declaration of the GSA president about the “resolution of the incident” and “legal response,” the controversy continued for over two weeks, the position of non-student council groups demanding “campus democracy,” the stance of the GSA president remains firmly opposed to his critics, making the outcome of discussions uncertain. Meanwhile, the GSA has not announced any position about “student debates” previously discussed under the leadership of the GSA. 

Reporter Choi Yoo-Min

Translated by Ha Chae-Won