Jieum, Korea University Student Association’s name, has two meanings. The pure Korean word Jieum means to build something. The 47th KUSA is claiming that it will rebuild the student association and restore students’ trust in their leaders. On the other hand, the Sino-Korean word Jieum means to listen to the voice of others. Therefore, Jieum is promising that it will listen to the public opinion of Korea University (KU) students and communicate as much as possible with them. Will Jieum meet their expectations?
The 47th KUSA election held last December was not a landslide victory like it had been for the past two years. Jieum got 42.67 percent of the total votes, winning by a margin of 233 votes. The turnout of the election was 41.66 percent, and more than 17 percent of the voters chose “none of the two.” The low vote rate and the unprecedented number of voters who refused to choose any of the two election camps proved KU students’ distrust toward KUSA.
The election scandal which ended with the nullification of the 2013 election and the former president and vice-president of KUSA leaving the school disappointed many KU students and made it hard for them to trust their leaders. KU students were puzzled when the leaders of Godaegonggamdae, which claimed to be different from the unilateral left-wing student leaders of the past, committed such frauds.
Acknowledging the disappointment and distrust of the students toward the student leaders, the new KUSA Jieum hasprioritized the restoration of students’ trust. “We promise KU students to be honest. We want to make KU a university where student autonomy flourishes,” said Seo Jaewoo (’12, Industrial Management Engineering), the president of the KUSA. He stressed that the emphasis on student autonomy is the most important difference between Jieum and former student associations led by Godaegonggamdae.
Jieum has provided multiple measures to communicate with students. For instance, there are advanced notices of KUSA policies and the establishment of a special committee on autonomy. Jieum is notifying KU students of its policies before implementing them. KUSA posts its plans on Facebook and receives feedback through comments on the postings and Facebook messages.
Despite the significance of students’ opinion about KUSA’s policies, there are hardships in receiving feedback quantitatively and qualitatively because of the lack of participation. Thus, some students are doubtful about the effectiveness of the measure. Acknowledging this skepticism, Seo said that Jieum will diversify methods of feedback according to the features of issues. For instance, KUSA has used Google Docs to efficiently listen to various opinions about student welfare, while it is planning to hold an open debate on controversial issues such as abolishing core general studies courses.
The special committee on autonomy which was launched on January 18 is planning to discuss measures to restore student politics. “The committee will play a crucial role in amendments to the rules of KUSA and offer help to student associations of newly founded departments like ones in the College of Health Science,” said Seo.In addition to these large projects, Jieum is planning different events to directly contact KU students such as meetings named Communication Maker and a monthly report on its projects named Monthly Jieum.
It seems apparent that Jieum will make various efforts to interact with students. However, students often evaluate their leaders’ communication policies by ascertaining whether KUSA has properly dealt with controversial issues. Jieum’s reaction on the dissolution of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) gained mixed responses from students. Jieum asked students’ opinions about the dissolution and a desirable attitude of KUSA toward it through an online survey. Though many were positive toward its efforts to listen to students’ voices, some criticized the closed process and indefinite purpose.
Seo admitted the lack of communication during the process. “Though we tried to just ask students’ opinions about the dissolution, it was true that students had difficulties in figuring out our purpose. Also, the fact that we did not reveal the result of the survey incurred more criticism,” he said. Seo promised to prioritize the democratic process and communication when dealing with similar social issues in the future.
Other than communication policies, Jieum has initiated various projects for the improved rights and welfare of KU students. One of them involves the normalization of the Tuition Fee Inquiry Commission. Throughout the commission held in January, Jieum criticized the composition of the committee and requested to open the details of discussion to the public. KUSA has argued that the inequality of the number of members on the student’s side and ones on the university’s side precludes in-depth and fruitful discussions in the committee. Although the negotiation in the winter broke down, Jieum has obtained the university’s promise to discuss the rules of the commission in another meeting which will be held in July.
Furthermore, Jieum will organize a long-term movement to improve educational rights of KU students, differing from previous student right movements which were one-time event in the spring. It will continuously and regularly cooperate with student bodies of departments to gather students’ opinions, then convey their requests to the university.
However, there are mixed responses to Jieum’s plans. Many students expect more pragmatic policies. Her Seung-il (’14, Business) said, “Though there are many policies and plans, it is difficult to find ones that touch the daily lives of students.” Moreover, some are negative toward the KUSA’s passive attitude on social participation. “Jieum could move backwards in terms of student autonomy by showing the tendency to avoid expressing political opinions,” said a student who wanted to remain anonymous.
It is difficult for KUSA to satisfy the needs and wants of all students. Nevertheless, Jieum is at least trying to listen to what students say and actively interact with them. “I and Jiuem pledge not to become isolated from general students,” said the KUSA’s president Seo. He kept repeating the words autonomy and communication. Jieum has chosen the right direction toward the trust of students. Now, it is time to act.
Jung Woo Jae
wjtow@korea.ac.kr