For decades since Pusan National University (PNU)’s founding, Nuknukhan-Teo (Nuk-Teo) has served as a symbolic space for students’ public discourse. However, as campus redevelopment has progressed, Nuk-Teo has been losing much of its original prominence. Many students now hope the spirit and value of Nuk-Teo can be preserved and carried forward by the entire campus community.

On April 4th, 2025, access to Nuk-Teo (currently known as Siwol Square) was significantly restricted due to turf preservation, facility maintenance, and ground condition issues. Out of the approximately 10,000㎡ area—consisting of a basketball court and a lawn field—only about 5,000㎡ remains practically usable, limited to the Yeollin-Teo (Open Space) and the basketball court. The lawn field is currently off-limits to protect the grass, and even the publicly accessible Siwol Square and basketball court are subject to restrictions due to unstable ground conditions caused by the underground parking lot beneath. Students’ use of the space is now reduced to sitting on the terraced seats around the field or playing basketball.

■ Nuk-Teo Today: A Restricted Space

Currently, the natural turf field, which makes up half of Nuk-Teo, is completely inaccessible, for “protecting the turf.” Since the sand field was replaced with natural turf in 2023, access has been restricted periodically to allow for turf maintenance. Students had high hopes for the field as a new spot for relaxation, but the period during which campus members can use the field has significantly decreased as it can be seen in the previous coverage of “Channel PNU” on March 28th, 2024. According to a representative from the Division of Student Affairs, “We know students have high expectations, but we can’t open it until the grass grows more evenly. At this rate, we expect to open it at least around May 1st.”

Due to complaints about noise and facility use, hosting festivals or events at Nuk-Teo has also become difficult. Traditionally, events such as club promotions, college-level student council inaugurations, and the Daedong-Je Festival were held back-to-back from the start of the spring semester to June. However, this year, only two events have taken place at Nuk-Teo: the club promotion on March 10th and the student council inauguration event of the College of Engineering on March 20th. An official from the Division of Student Affairs explained, “We’ve received frequent complaints from nearby buildings about noise from Nuk-Teo events, so we’ve asked student organizations to hold their events near their respective college buildings instead. Up until last year, we were flexible with regulations, but starting this year, we’ve shifted our policy.”

Even the largest student event—the Daedong-Je Festival—is being restructured due to safety concerns. Scheduled from May 27th to 29th, this year’s festival will, for the first time, be split between Nuk-Teo and the Sports Complex. Previously, up till last year, all booths and concerts were held exclusively at Nuk-Teo. In the reporting of “Channel PNU” on March 21st, 2025, it is known that a representative from the Main Offices explained, “Due to the weak ground condition of Nuk-Teo, we’ve decided to relocate for safety reasons.”

Students are disappointed that Nuk-Teo has become a space that has lost its identity. In interviews, students used self-deprecating nicknames like “Jopteo” (meaning “Cramped Ground”) or (An) Nuknukhan-Teo (meaning “(Not) Spacious Ground”), sarcastically mentioning that Nuk-Teo’s not like before. On PNU’s online community “MyPNU,” many posts express regret over the reduced area and limited functionality of Nuk-Teo. PNU Student A said, “Even one of my professors joked that it should be called ‘Cramped Ground’ now. When new students hear the name Nuk-Teo, they question whether it’s actually spacious.”

■ Nuk-Teo: Once a Student Agora

Nuk-Teo wasn’t always this way. In the past, it was used as a large athletic field and served as a platform for public discourse. During the 1970s, when the BUMA (Busan-Masan) Democratic Uprising was ongoing, Nuk-Teo spanned about 30,000㎡—an area roughly equal to three soccer fields, living up to its name. The space encompassed the present-day lawn field, Siwol Square, and the flat area extending toward the Main Administration Building and the Mechanical Technology Center. All large-scale university events like entrance ceremonies and sports competitions took place there. PNU Graduate B (60, Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-Do), an alumnus from the 1980s, recalled, “I used to spend most of my breaks at Nuk-Teo. The clock tower there was always the go-to meeting spot.”

More than just a sports field, Nuk-Teo was where students developed their sense of civic and student identity. During the 1979 BUMA (Busan-Masan) Democratic Uprising, students gathered at Nuk-Teo to protest against the military regime. There’s even a saying that “Hyowonins (Hyowonin = Nickname for PNU students) learned democracy not from books, but from the dawn light of Nuk-Teo.” PNU Graduate An Seong-Hee (Dept. of Archaeology, 89), current curator at the PNU Museum, said, “Even when I enrolled, student protests were still common. Students from all departments gathered at Nuk-Teo to fight together. Nuk-Teo was a true student space.”

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the movement for democracy continued to revolve around Nuk-Teo. For instance, when the Main Offices unilaterally took over the editorial rights of PNU’s news agency “PNU Newspaper” in February 1987, all student reporters resigned and burned the newspaper in protest. This sparked campus-wide protests, including hunger strikes of student councils, lesson boycotts, and sit-ins at the president’s office. By April, over 14,000 students assembled at Nuk-Teo, culminating in the 1987 June Democracy Movement as reported by “Channel PNU” on June 6th, 2024.

The major reduction in Nuk-Teo’s size began with the construction of the Main Administration Building. In 1995, the administration relocated from the Humanities Building to its current location, and the College of Engineering buildings—including Engineering Building #10, Engineering Building #11, and the Mechanical Technology Center—were added. In 2009, an underground parking lot was built beneath Nuk-Teo, along with stairways and the removal of the clock tower, renovating the space entirely. As construction expanded, Nuk-Teo’s area shrank to about one-third of its original size (about 10,000㎡). B commented, “Longer after I graduated, when I visited the school during my child’s enrollment, I was surprised by how much smaller it had become. It’s really different from how it used to be.”

■ Students: “Preserve Nuk-Teo’s Symbolic Value”

Despite its reduced size, Nuk-Teo has continued to function as a space for student discourse. Major student-led actions in the 2000s also centered around Nuk-Teo. All four “Student General Assembly,” for the highest-level decision-making body of “General Students’ Association” held in the 2000s (2005, 2006, 2011, and 2018) were held at Nuk-Teo, with attendance recorded at 4,500, 4,100, 5,440, and 4,231 respectively. Topics included opposition to tuition hikes, undemocratic university integration policies, and demands for voting rights in the presidential selection process as it can be discovered in the coverage of “Channel PNU” on December 14th, 2018.

Although the university acknowledges Nuk-Teo’s symbolic importance, putting that into practice has been difficult. In 2023, PNU officially designated the area consisting of Nuk-Teo, the basketball court, and the paved plaza as “Siwol Square.” Then-PNU-President Cha Jeong-In unveiled a monument and stated, “There was feedback from the PNU community that the 10.16 Memorial Hall alone was insufficient in honoring the BUMA (Busan-Masan) Democratic Uprising. That’s why we wanted to preserve the name ‘Nuk-Teo’ while also officially adding the name ‘Siwol Square’ in front of it.” as reported by “Channel PNU” on October 31st, 2023. Still, limited campus space and administrative controls have restricted its role as both a resting area and an event venue. In effect, the space’s function as a public forum has taken a backseat.

Students hope that Nuk-Teo’s symbolic identity as a student public space can be maintained. A said, “We understand the noise and management concerns, but it must at least remain accessible for students. Otherwise, the space’s meaning will fade even more.” Moreover, B commented, “It was called Nuk-Teo because it was spacious and useful for all sorts of student activity. If we can’t use it for anything, why keep the name?”

Many called for more flexible usage of Nuk-Teo. PNU Student C (Dept. of Business Administration, 21), a former GSA member, shared, “I have many memories from Nuk-Teo. I understand the constraints, but I hope access for events and the lawn can be more flexible.” Lee Ja-Yeon (Dept. of Korean Language and Literature, 23), chairman of the Club Association, who organized events at Nuk-Teo, said, “I believe Nuk-Teo is the only space where students can act freely without interference from the Main Offices or faculty.” Park Ji-Ho (School of Public Policy and Management, 22), Director General of the Club Association, who co-hosted the events, added, “Unlike other campus buildings used for classes or labs, Nuk-Teo should be a place where students create memories of their campus life.”

Reporter Hwang Ju-Won 

Translated by Thadar-Soe