I understand holding a pro and anti impeachment rally, but… I have to take my graduation photos today, shouldn't the timing of the rally on campus have been considered?
This was said by Park Mo (26), who was taking graduation photos at Korea University's Anam Campus in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, around 2:30 p.m. on the 21st. Park noted that seeing the campus marred with pickets, political slogans, noise, and outsiders on the day of taking graduation photos, which happens only once in a lifetime, made them feel uneasy.
On the same day, as anti-impeachment declarations by President Yoon Suk-yeol continued on campuses like Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Kyungpook National University, a declaration was also held at Korea University. Some current students using the group name "Korea University Students Defending Liberal Democracy" announced that they would gather in the Democratic Plaza on campus at 4 p.m. that day for the declaration. A group named "Emergency Action for Yoon Suk-yeol's Resignation" then stated that they would hold a counter-rally at the same location an hour earlier, and the anti-impeachment rally moved to the area in front of the main gate.
A pro-impeachment rally held in the Democratic Plaza at 3 p.m. that day saw participation from over 70 people. They held up pickets that read, "Dissolve the People Power Party" and "Let Korea University, which supports martial law, be stopped," and shouted slogans like "Protect the Democratic Plaza" and "Inherit the spirit of martyrs." After concluding their speeches, they moved to the Central Plaza around 3:30 p.m. to continue their protest near the anti-impeachment rally site.
However, among the more than 70 participants in the rally, over 40 were middle-aged individuals with graying hair. Banners with names from the classes of 1994 and 1999 were also hung on campus. In addition to the "Korean University Students Progressive Union (Daejinyeon)," flags of the "Civic Party for Justice" and the "Health and Medical Organizations Federation" were also present. Comments like "Civic Party for Justice at Korea University?" were posted in online communities used by Korea University students. Jo Min, daughter of Jo Kuk, former head of the Civic Party for Justice, graduated from Korea University, but her admission was canceled. The school determined that the documents submitted by Jo Min during her application were fraudulent.
The anti-impeachment rally was not composed solely of current students. In front of the main gate, YouTuber Ahn Jung-gwon's video platform "Bellado" had pre-reported to the police that they would hold a rally with 500 participants starting at 4 p.m. Ahn was a figure who was arrested in 2022 for insulting former President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Additionally, starting around 2 p.m., YouTubers flooded the area, shouting to students, "You must oppose the impeachment." About 300 outsiders gathered at the main gate and shouted slogans like "Arrest Lee Jae-myung."
Kim Mi-gang (16th class of the Department of Education), who participated in the declaration, said, "Our Korea University was the birthplace of the anti-Japanese struggle and has played a pioneering role in defending freedom and dignity after liberation," and expressed an anti-impeachment stance by stating, "Just like back then, we must take action to protect liberal democracy regardless of left or right ideology." Participants shouted slogans demanding, "Verify the election fraud."
In Central Plaza, where the pro and anti-impeachment rallies were held simultaneously, graduating students from Korea University were taking commemorative photos. One student photographing about 30 meters away from the rally site said, "It's scary." As a YouTuber shouted, "Kill the red X," students taking their graduation photos turned their heads simultaneously toward the main gate. Park Mo (28), who had been studying in the library, said, "I was studying for the state exam, and I can hear all the noise. It's too loud to concentrate, so students are changing their spots."
In online communities, Korea University students commented, as photos from the rally site began to circulate, "I have to take my graduation photos, but whether you support impeachment or oppose it, I wish everyone would leave the area," and "A university demonstration without college students."