At Dongduk Women's University, where a large part of the campus is covered in spray paint (lacquer) from protests against switching to a coeducational system, a survey found that about 4 in 10 students support removing the lacquer but want it funded only by the school budget. They cited the reason that it happened because the school failed to communicate. It has been a year since the lacquer protest took place.
The emergency committee of the Dongduk Women's University student council said on the 12th on its social media (SNS) account that among 725 Dongduk Women's University students who responded to the Facilities Restoration Committee's survey, 95.2% said cleanup related to the lacquer paint was necessary. The Facilities Restoration Committee is a consultative body formed to discuss lacquer removal, with four Commissioners each from the school and the student side.
The reasons cited for supporting lacquer removal were, in order, appearance, improving the school's image, and because Class of '26 freshmen will soon enroll.
To the question of when it would be appropriate to begin restoring facilities affected by the lacquer on campus, 85.5% of students answered that they wanted restoration completed by next month. They said they hoped it would be removed as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, 53.1% of students who participated in the survey said it would be difficult to cover the facility restoration expense with either the school budget or donations alone, and took the position that restoration should use both the school budget and donations.
By contrast, 42.1% of respondents said it happened because the school failed to communicate and said only the school budget should be used. Only 4.8% said it should be covered by student donations without the school budget.
The emergency committee of the Dongduk Women's University student council said it would discuss specifics with the school on timing and expense based on the survey results and noted that although discussions on facility restoration have begun, campus issues have not yet been resolved.
A Dongduk Women's University official said the student side and the school side are seeking a restoration plan they can both agree on and said the committee is expected to come up with a concrete plan soon.
Previously, in November last year, Dongduk Women's University students occupied the entire campus and held a lacquer protest, writing slogans opposing the switch to coeducation with spray paint (lacquer) across building exteriors, walkways, and asphalt roads. The school was scheduled to decide on whether to discuss a switch to coeducation at a faculty board meeting on the 12th of the same month, but the so-called lacquer protest broke out a day earlier based only on rumors.
Afterward, the school and the student council clashed head-on over who should bear the expense of repairing the damage from the lacquer protest, which left slogans in red paint across the campus.
The school said that the expense for building repairs and cleaning due to the occupation sit-in was estimated by a maintenance company at about 2 billion to 5 billion won, and the president filed a complaint with police against 21 people, including the student council president. After student backlash and persuasion from political circles, on May 14 the school submitted to police a withdrawal of the criminal complaint and a statement of non-punishment for enrolled students. However, police continued the investigation on the grounds that charges such as property damage and obstruction of business are not offenses subject to non-prosecution at the victim's discretion.
In connection with the occupation sit-in, police received a total of 75 complaints, accusations, and petitions and booked 38 people. Of those for whom materials such as closed-circuit (CC) TV existed, 22 were sent to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office on charges including obstruction of business, refusal to leave, and property damage. Police decided not to refer the remaining 16 due to insufficient evidence.