Confusion arose during the meeting due to the inexperienced management of the Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives by the Pusan National University (PNU)’s General Students’ Association (GSA), when the vote results were overturned. Some delegates left midway and as a result, the meeting was adjourned due to a lack of quorum and key agenda items such as the revision of the GSA Charter remain unaddressed. 

The Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives for the second half of 2025 was held at 7 pm on September 9th, 2025 in the large conference room on the third floor of Main Administration Building of PNU. Held twice annually, the assembly is the highest decision-making body following the Student General Assembly and consists of the president & vice-president of the GSA, college-level Student Councils, Independent Faculty Student Council, Department-level Student Councils, and the president & vice-president of Club Association. On this day, 83 of 142 members, including delegates and observers, attended the general meeting. Among them, 32 had delegated their voting rights, meaning 51 delegates were physically present at the venue.

A total of 29 business plans including the Education Policy Division (five cases), External Cooperation Division (four cases), Cultural Planning Division (three cases), Administrative Affairs Division (four cases), Communication and Public Relations Division (four cases), Financial Secretariat (two cases) and Student Welfare Division (seven cases) were approved, with the exception of the Student Welfare Division’s “Free MiriCanvas Support Business for the Second Half of the 2025”.

The approval of business plans and budget proposals for the GSA’s special organizations was also completed. The business plan for the cheerleading squad “Finale,” a GSA’s special organization that had been rejected by delegates at the Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives for the first half of 2025 in March, as it can be seen in a report by “Channel PNU” on March 14th, 2025, finally passed this time. However, due to typographical errors, the project budget is scheduled to be approved later through a written vote. Also, the special organization “Hyowon” that had expressed its intention to remain during the temporary Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives held in May 2025, it was found to be in violation of the bylaws for failing to undergo budget approval and editor-in-chief confirmation as previously reported by “Channel PNU” on May 22nd, 2025. Now, the editor-in-chief appointment, business plan, and budget of “Hyowon” have also been approved.

The agenda item that caused confusion was the business plan of the “Student Welfare Division" within the Central Executive Committee of the GSA. During the initial vote, with a quorum of 85 members, 43 voted in favor, 23 against, and 19 abstained, meeting the required quorum of 43 for passage so the plan was passed. However, when approving Item 3, the business plan for the GSA’s special organization, the cheerleading squad “Finale,” a delegate questioned whether the proxy votes from absent members were valid. In response, the GSA belatedly revised the quorum to 80 members and the votes to 38 in favor, reversing the result to a rejection. Subsequently, the GSA proceeded with a re-vote on the revised business plan excluding the “Free MiriCanvas Support Business.” The plan was approved with 44 votes in favor, 3 against, and 28 abstentions out of the required quorum of 75 members.

This confusion arose because the GSA included proxy votes submitted after five delegates who had left during the meeting in the quorum and treated them as votes in favor. Unsurprisingly, some delegates raised repeated concerns about issues with the GSA’s proxy handling procedures. Lee Jeong-Min (Dept. of Mathematics, 21), president of the College of Natural Sciences’s Student Council, pointed out, “According to the GSA bylaws, proxies must be submitted before the meeting.” Kim Ye-Bin (Dept. of French Language and Literature, 23), president of the College of Humanities’s Student Council, also stated, “Only the 32 proxies received in advance should be recognized.” She continued adding, “In this case, the 38 votes in favor do not meet the quorum requirement for passage.” In response, the GSA adjusted the quorum to 80 members, excluding those who had left early, and re-evaluated the vote, ultimately resulting in its rejection.

Following the assembly, GSA President Choi Soo-In (Dept. of English Language and Literature, 20) explained that this reversal stemmed from differing interpretations of the bylaws. President Choi stated, “At the time of submission, no restrictions were imposed.” She continued adding, “We interpreted the bylaws to mean that proxy forms could be submitted at any time.” Regarding the decision to reverse the vote, she explained, “It reflects the concerns raised by the delegates at the meeting.” However, Article 16 of PNU’s GSA Bylaws explicitly states that delegates must submit their proxy forms before the opening of the relevant meeting.

Amid the confusion, the meeting was adjourned prematurely due to a lack of quorum just before voting on the final agenda item, the “Partial Amendment to the General GSA Charter, Bylaws, and Rules.” The amendment included improvements to the controversial “proxy voting clause” in Article 16 of the General GSA Charter as reported by “Channel PNU” on November 8th, 2024. In addition to the existing clause allowing absent representatives to delegate their voting rights to the chairperson, a new restriction was introduced: “Proxies shall be accepted only up to a maximum of one-tenth of the total number of registered members. If this limit is exceeded, the meeting shall be invalidated." This amendment was drafted by the “PNU GSA Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules Revision Task Force”, which was formed on August 4th and included general students. It was formally proposed by 11 Central Operating Committee members on September 2nd, 2025.

At the meeting, delegates deliberated on the amendment. One president of the department-level Student Council suggested, “Instead of reducing proxies to a maximum of one-tenth of the total seats, we must explore other solutions.” Another delegate pointed out, “There is concern that the newly added agenda items may make it difficult to convene the meeting.” While the TF was responding to these points, the meeting ended due to a lack of quorum.

Agenda items pending approval due to adjournment will proceed to a written vote. President Choi stated, “The budget proposal for ‘Finale,’ the revision of the GSA Constitution, and the approval of the meeting minutes will proceed to a written vote.” Regarding the Student Welfare Division’s Free Miricanvas Support Business, which was excluded from the vote, President Choi stated, “We will discuss internally to determine whether to cancel the project entirely or proceed with a written vote.”

Reporter Song Min-Soo

Translated by Channel PNU