Another student representative meeting was held to deliberate over the most recent motion to consider impeachment that was made by the Korea University (KU) students after more than 850 students signed for the motion. Although the meeting was primarily carried out by the authorized delegates, other students were allowed to partially participate. The third provisional student representative meeting continued for more than 10 hours came to an end with 23 delegates voting for the impeachment, 34 voting against, and nine abstaining, thereby turning down the motion to consider impeaching the reigning Korea University Student Union (KUSA).

Although the meeting extended until 5:10 A.M., the meeting did cause some major controversies mid-way and had to digress from the main topic. The meeting had cease for some time after Kwon Soon Min (’13, Sociology) posted a blurred photo of the list with personal information of students who signed for the motion on his personal Facebook profile. All the lists were collected and destroyed, whereas Kwon openly apologized for his wrongdoings and stated that he is “willing to provide any information to ensure that no information was leaked.”

The meeting came to a stalemate once again when the visitors and the delegates openly disputed whether alumni are supposed to be given rights to speak out. The dispute settled after the delegates agreed that alumni and visitors should only be given limited rights to speak. The meeting was also delayed from time to time in order to make sure that the meeting was following the proper rule under the constitution.

The main focus, however, was still on the motion to consider impeachment. The meeting started off with Lee Sang Hoon (’09, Earth and Environmental Science), who first proposed the motion, making his argument against KUSA. His main argument for the impeachment included several events that infuriated the KU students. Although he stated that he is “not a representative of the 850 students who signed for the motion,” he chose to speak for those who had similar goals.

His first argument stated that KUSA failed to troubleshoot the noise problem caused by the festival that took place during the first semester and tried to eschew responsibility by saying that such inconvenience was an “implicit agreement” made by all those who were affected. He also argued that KUSA failed to set an example as a student representative by not formally giving an apology for their mistake. He also brought up the issue between KUSA and Deluxe, a club which, for a long time, hosted a game competition with Yonsei University (YU). Lee stated that “not only did KUSA unrightfully take away the position as a host, despite knowing that Deluxe had been hosting the event for a long time, but also refused to apologize for their wrongdoings.”

He also criticized the lack of communication KUSA made with the KU students. Lee argued that, despite being aware of the fact that the reading room located in Central Plaza was to be reduced in size, KUSA intentionally kept it secret from students. He also stated KUSA refused to answer questions done by students regarding this issue.

Lee brought up the issue regarding the declaration of current state of affairs, which was the decisive incident that led to the motion, as his final argument. He argued that the participating organizations were outside groups, and that KUSA did not reflect a majority of the opinions given by KU students regarding the advertising poster of the declaration event.

The Chair of the Executive Committee of Star:zari and the president of KUSA, Park Se Hoon (’13, Political Science and International Relations), refuted by saying that “some of the arguments made by Lee was ultimately flawed.” Park first commented that his “implicit agreement” statement was simply misplaced wording, and did not plan to ignore the discomfort of the KU members in any way. He referred to the fact that KUSA failed to make an apology for some of the frustrations KUSA has caused and stated that KUSA did make a formal apology whenever they were put in a position to do so. He also refuted that he took responsibility of all events that caused controversy by cancelling or delaying the event in order to reflect to the demands of the KU students. He did, however, admit KUSA was at fault with the Deluxe issue but claimed that this cannot be the sole reason for impeachment.

The chair of the Executive Committee also stated that, regarding the declaration of current state affairs, KUSA did not include external organizations since many KU members were active participants of those clubs, and that KUSA showed respect to KU students by delaying the declaration until further notice, which was what the students demanded for. Also, Park stated that “there is no reason for me to prevent the students from learning that the reading room located in the Central Plaza will reduce in size.” He stated that this announcement was not yet done since the school itself was far from prepared to execute the project.

Lee failed to provide additional arguments other than stating that “the meeting should be more balanced among those who support or disapprove the motion.” Little was done to corroborate the arguments for the motion, although one visitor stated that “the meeting may not be the right place to come to a final decision,” and therefore should “grant KU students some rights to vote for the final decision.”

It was mostly the delegates who objected the motion who voiced their opinions. Although the delegates pretty much agreed that “KUSA was at fault in several occasions and should improve in order to effectively communicate with the students,” they argued that “the motion was based on unverified claims and events,” and that “the presence of KUSA is vitally needed at the current state.”

There were some delegates, however, who felt uncertain representing the students. By referring to Koreapas, several delegates felt that the student representatives have lost the student’s credibility and therefore suggested a “total vote” where students will get to vote whether KUSA will remain in office or not. This total vote motion was, however, automatically discarded as the final ballot revealed that KUSA will keep its position.

Although the final ballot evinced that KUSA’s presence is still crucial and that KUSA has what it takes to be the decisive solution to the social unrest, the meeting has given KUSA a lot of assignment to accomplish in order to redeem themselves and regain faith among KU students. Considering that most of the problems originated from the lack of communication, KUSA will now have to find a better way to effectively communicate with the KU members.

▲ The meeting in session. Photographed by Kim Seunghyun.