A year has passed since Jieum stood up and settled the chaos within Korea University (KU). Since its victory in the general election came right after the fraudulent elections, every single idea and action of Jieum was challenged and questioned. Jieum started off with great pressure, worked throughout the year with the pressure, and finally reached its end. Whether its end was as meaningful as everyone expected it to be is a matter of debate.

 

The fraudulent elections that occurred at KU last year are already very well known by all students of KU and even those who are not part of the KU community. As many people have realized the importance of student autonomy within a university, an increased number of KU students now pay greater attention to the activities and projects of the new Korea University Student Association (KUSA). Therefore high expectations of the new KUSA are not only from KU students, but also a great number of professors who once were students of KU, and KU alumni. This is the reason Jieum's election pledges could not have been simple promises that ordinary electioneering teams made in the past.
 
   
▲ Main logo of Jieum. Provided by Jieum.
The main slogan that was shared among all of Jieum's promises was regaining and rebuilding student autonomy and trust amongst KU students. Most of Jieum's pledges circled around revolutionizing the system of KUSA. During the past five years of the Gonggamdae line, a great majority of KUSA's projects were focused simply on the welfare of students. Jieum, on the other hand, had a bigger plan in mind. It not only wanted to improve the lives of students during its time in 2015, but also implement polices to guarantee those welfare projects' maintenance. Thus, Jieum worked on both short-term and long-term policies.
 
   
▲ Seo Jae Woo, president of the KUSA, is talking about his thoughts about Jieum's past year. Photographed by Suh Jaehee.
President Seo Jae-Woo ('12, Industrial Management Engineering) believes that a year is not enough to fully regain the trust of students. Therefore, he stated, "The core is to go back to the basics and make the base of everything concrete. Once a solid system is constructed, the KUSA will be able to be managed with the support of students, regardless of individual KUSA members." Establishment of the Student Autonomy Special Committee (SASC), amendment of the general student regulations, and the creation of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts are some examples of Jieum's effort to construct a sturdy system.
 
One of the easiest ways to evaluate the success or failure of a regime is to check how many of its election pledges were actualized. Students such as Lee Jae Jung ('15, Russian Language and Literature) believe that "many of Jieum's projects seemed to be only for show," criticizing the fact that the KUSA could have done something more meaningful with that time and effort. However, Seo explained that, "We planned to organize projects and programs that were more visible for students, and those that students can easily relate to, or make immediate use of. That way we believed that more KU students would be able to realize that the KUSA is actually working very hard for them."
 
At the same time, Seo showed regret about setting too many election pledges during the electioneering period. While KUSA candidates usually have 10 to 20 election promises, Jieum put forward approximately 60 pledges. Ever since the election period, there were students such as Moon Hyun-Seung ('13, Electrical Engineering) who judged that many of Jieum's promises could not be fully achieved within a year. Seo also agreed with this point, but called students' attention to projects that were newly planned during the year, and interpret those programs as Jieum's attempts to try its best.
 
Any student who has been showing the least bit of interest towards the projects of the KUSA would agree that the general opinion towards Jieum is not unified among students. Such controversy did not surface all of a sudden, but has existed throughout the entire year of Jieum's regime. As The Granite Tower (GT) has reported throughout this whole year, students presented their opinions on almost every one of Jieum's projects. General participation was more active regarding policies that they could directly relate to, or those that created serious social controversy, which could be the sign of KU students becoming more interested in issues other than their own immediate future.
 
Granted, Jieum has faced difficulties other than the pressure from the overall atmosphere, including the general lack of trust towards the KUSA. While it claimed that it worked to regain students' trust, trust itself is not material, and thus immensely difficult to regain and restore. In fact, this was one of the worries that many had since the discovery of the fraudulent elections. As Seo was one of the people often mentioned when these election-related issues were hot, he confessed, "I had personal doubts about whether or not my choice to run as a candidate was right. However, I judged that it would be better to show the best that I can do, rather than back away." Evaluations of his choice are open to be made by KU students.
 
Various opinions also exist regarding the level of unification within Jieum's own executive committee. Seo reflected on the past year and dearly thanked all members of the executive committee, along with the students who actively participated in various activities and events of KUSA. Of course, details regarding the cohesion of the committee would be known only to those who were directly involved. However, Seo views his team as being an improving one. "There certainly were struggles and challenging moments during the year. Some left, some joined. Nevertheless, we got better in working as a whole. Before, it took hours to reach an agreement. Now, it takes only minutes to reach a consensus."
 
Representing 20 thousand students cannot be done without stress. As it is extremely difficult for a regime to receive unanimous positive reviews, criticism is only natural. As the famous saying goes, "failure is but the threshold of success." Controversial opinions towards Jieum demonstrate that it was not an entire failure, but they are also proof that there still are enhancements for the next KUSA to make. Seo hopes that the next KUSA will be able to "extend the leader's beliefs as the philosophy that forms the base of the whole executive committee of the KUSA." Hopes are high for the next KUSA, that it can be remembered as a higher step towards a more trustworthy student society.
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