Protest March at Seoul National University to Urge Thorough Investigation of Fraudulent Election Allegations
Joongwon Yu, member of the Truth Forum, 2020-5-22
From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on May 13, 2020, in front of the Seoul National University Student Hall, there was a rally hosted by the Truth Forum (student organization in South Korea) regarding the appearance of widespread election fraud in the latest Korean election. On this day, a rally was held involving participants’ protests, statement announcements, campus marches, and chanting slogans. The protests were peaceful and orderly without any special disturbances. Because of COVID-19, all participants wore masks and adhered to social distancing.
The protest was planned to deliver the voices of college youths on the campus of Seoul National University (SNU). SNU is known for having the highest reputation in Korea. More and more students, both online and offline are demanding investigations due to the suspicion of widespread election fraud during the general elections held in April 2020. On this day, participation was open to students and graduates of SNU and general citizens as well. Additionally, Korean media and YouTube channels covered the rally.
Eun-koo Kim, the founder of Truth Forum and the Truth Alliance, a national coalition of the Truth Forums for each university, spoke on this day. First, Kim urged the National Election Commission to allow the general public access to relevant information without restriction in order to resolve all suspicions raised regarding the 4.15 general election. Kim emphasized that the right of citizens to verify that elections are conducted properly is a unique right of the people naturally derived from the public nature of elections. In addition, the SNU Truth Forum urged reform of the fundamental election system to prevent fraud in advance, with abolishing pre-voting, using transparent ballot boxes, and implementing hand-counting on site.
In particular, the crowd chanted, “Set justice even when the sky falls. Hit the bell of justice with your whole body.” Those are the phrases that the so-called champions of the “democracy movement” shouted at universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Despite the large numbers of the former activists (who had called out corruption in the past) in the current Moon Jae-in government, however, numerous corruption scandals involving the current government have emerged over the past three years. Therefore, it is of great significance that the college students and young adult groups, while criticizing their older alumni [student activists in the 80s/90s] , are crying out the same slogans that the older alumni themselves cried out for social justice in the past.
Also, on the same day, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., another rally was held at Korea University (“KU”), hosted by the KU Truth Forum for the same purpose. KU is also widely acknowledged as one of the country’s largest and top-ranked universities in Korea. It held the representatives of the student democratization movement in the past. At this rally, the KU Truth Forum also spoke with the voices of college youths who demanded a thorough investigation of suspicious activities related to the election and reform of the election system.
