Have you heard the saying, “A nation that forgets its past has no future”? This saying has been critical for Koreans and it has frequently been quoted. History is essential because there will be a better future with fewer mistakes made by learning from history. In Korea, we often consider Japan when hearing this idea. Recently, there was anxious rumbling on campus that Mr. Son, the former president of Kyonggi University and a troublemaker, attended a board meeting. During his presidency, he disturbed the school by committing an irregularity, making unlawful college transfers, misusing school funds and violently suppressing dissent. Until he was sentenced to probation for his deeds in 2004, all members of Kyonggi University had a hard time. Thus, his coming back must not be permitted for the well-being of all stakeholders. Students and other interested parties have tried to prevent him from returning to the school. In this article, the Pharos checks the reasons for all the opposition to his return and provides guidance about how to react to this issue.
There are many irregularities related to Mr. Son, so let’s look into them one by one. First is the illegal selling of educational land. The so-called “Shin-gal land” was sold and the profits from the sale went into his pocket. Aside from discussing how beneficial the land would have been for us, selling it and using the profits arbitrarily were clearly illegal actions. There were many more cases in which he embezzled and committed breaches of trust. For example, he misappropriated educational funds of the school in the amount of 5.9 billion won. He also embezzled 3.6 billion won from new students who were illegally admitted and appropriated 470 million won from the illegal college transfer of students. Moreover, illegal action was discovered in the employment of professors. The second reason is the use of violence. In the 1990s, there was a protest aimed at attaining Mr. Son’s resignation. At that time, there was a notification about moving the engineering college to the Suwon campus. Students staged a protest to prevent this change, but he tried to stop them by force. Mr. Son brought athletic groups from the school to forcefully incapacitate the protesters and threatened to cut their scholarships off. Kidnapping, violence, incarceration, and so on taik committed. Quoting an expression used at that time, “It seems like martial law.” During this time, Oh Won-tak, who was the vice president of the student council on the Seoul campus, was hit by a baseball bat, and had to have surgery. He did not die then, but after recovering, he died while serving in the military. There were questions about the cause of his death.
In response to Mr. Son’s presence on campus, the students could not wait and see. The In:K Student Council and each college student council issued a statement expressing extreme opposition to Mr. Son’s return and put up banners all over the campus to remind students of this issue. However, on June 17, the school removed the banners without permission because they damaged the aesthetic appearance of the school. Members of the Central Committee, including the president of the In:k Student Council, and the vice presidents of each college visited the Student Support Office to protest. They ask for the reinstallation of the removed banners and were promised that they would be restored. However, it didn’t last long. The banners were removed again after the end of the semester, and the students worried that the questions of Mr. Son’s return had already been decided. On June 21, however, the president of the In:K Student Council said that they decided to accept the school’s request for the removal of the banners for a short period of time, concerned that they would be seen in a negative light by the Ministry of Education.
Moreover, the student council, a faculty, and the labor union asked the board to deal with the agenda about Mr. Son together at the meeting and the board agreed to it. However, when 3 parties came to the meeting place, they realized that the meeting place was changed to another place, a hotel located in Gang-nam 3 parties headed to the changed meeting place as soon as they knew change, though the board had already finished. The agenda about Mr. Son returning to chairman of the board was passed unanimously. Right after this happened, the student council and students expressed strong rejection by occupying the room of board’s chairman. The occupation has been running 24 hours. Also, 3 parties submitted the related information about his irregularities to the Ministry of Education. When students of Kyonggi University heard of the disrespectful decision that was made by a board meeting, they autonomously articulate their intentions with giving the information to the press and petitioning via internet. The arbitrary decision made by a board meeting, which disregarded the opinions of Kyonggi University members, deserved to be condemned. A board must wake up from the selfish mind that could lead to crisis of Kyonggi University and its members.
Kyonggi University is a school with a long history of over 70 years. One man’s greed has created disharmony at the school even taik countless people have strived to prevent it. In the process, victims such as patriotic Oh Won-tak have suffered abuse, while at the same time many people have tried to normalize the school. However, if former President Son Jong-kook returns, it will destroy all their efforts and jeopardize the school, so it must not be done. We must strongly resist Mr. Son’s attempt to return to the school. He is trying to come back to the campus, so all the members of Kyonggi University must keep an eye on him. The Pharos also is absolutely opposed to his return and will watch his behavior carefully.
Management Editor•CHOI SOYEON•clara3003@naver.com
71st Reporter•PARK SINUI•dean0305@naver.com
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[문화산책] 이 세계는 멋져 보이지만 모두 환상이야
[진리터] 1100호가 우리의 종착지는 아니니까
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