Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

The Korean Student Movement: Major Cases and Their Characteristics

Presented by Hogi Jeong

(Honam Culture Research Center, Chonnam National Unviersity)

I. Introduction: the Context and the Goals of the Lecture

The Korean student movement first appeared in the Japanese colonial period,
and has taken important roles in the social movements in Korea in times of disorder and
rapid change. The student movement has contributed to the democratization of South
Korea, especially through the following social movements: the April Uprising in 1960,
the struggle against the “June 3rd ROK-Japan Talk” in 1963, the Buma Uprising in 1979,
the May 18 Uprising in 1980, the June Uprising and the struggle for the realization of
the August 15th South-North Korean Students Meeting in 1987, the reunification
movement in 1989, and the May Struggle in 1991.
The student movement was not limited in the democratization movement in the
politics, but closely related to every social movement in the fields of labor movements,
peasant movements, movements for the poor, and educational movements. The student
movement activists participated in each field: one of the most frequent modes of their
participation was the so-called “site entering,” i.e., for them to get a job in the actual
working sites of the laborers. The government defined this “site entering” as a
disguised employment and suppressed it. Having moved into various fields and leading
the social movements, the participants of the past student movements are now
contributing to the development of the democracy and human rights in the Korean
society.
This lecture will introduce some of the major Korean student movements and
their contexts, focusing on their goals, activities, and sufferings. It will introduce the
student movements largely in two perspectives: first, through the major cases of student
organizations, and, second, the major cases of meetings and demonstrations occurred in
the process of the student movements in Korea.
The lecture will give a lot of space to the student movement in the 1980s when the
democratization movement was very active in South Korea.

II. Cases of student Organizations

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1. The Case of The National League of Democratic Youths and Students (April 3,
1974)

● The Context
With the appearance of the Yushin System that denied even the perfunctory
democracy, the elated social movements became depressed in the early 1970s. The Park
Junghee Administration invoked the garrison decree, as the struggle against the military
training at school spread in 1971. The Park Administration took a strong measure: it
stationed the army in educational institutions, took 1,889 students to the police station,
and arrested 119 of them. As the Yushin System appeared after the leadership of the
student movement was arrested on a large scale and pressed to the army, the student
movement stopped taking overt actions. As observed in the case of “the NH Society” of
Korea University, also known as the “Minuji” case, in June, 1973, the case of “the
Black October Group,” or the case of “Hamseongji (cries)” of Chonnam National
University, the student movement in this period hoarded up its ability and conducted its
struggle through underground print materials.
The Park Administration, however, came to face with high criticism both from
the inside and the outside of the country due to “the Kim Daejung kidnapping case” in
August, 1974, and the raised antipathy against the Yushin System. The first
demonstration against the Yushin System took place on October 2nd, 1974, led by the
students at Seoul National University. With this demonstration, the student movement
renovated its stagnant atmosphere and reassured its leadership in social movements.
After the demonstration at Seoul National University, the anti-Yushin System
demonstrations spread not only through different universities and high schools around
the country but also through the societies of religion, journalism, and outside the public
office. This nationwide struggle resulted in “the Million Signature-Collecting
Campaign for the Petition for the Constitutional Amendment.”
The Park Administration took a very firm line on this people’s movement,
declaring the Emergency Measure No. 1 and No. 2 which said that no discussion on the
constitution would be allowed and that those who violate this measure will be brought
to the emergency court-martial and punished without the warrant of a judicial officer.
At the same time, the Park Administration fostered an intense social atmosphere,
purging the public officers (reprimanding 627 public officers including the then deputy
prime minister), controlling the press media, and holding a nationwide anti-communist
demonstration in the cause of the return of the fishing boat captured by the North
Korean marine while working in the Yellow Sea.
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As the antipathy against the Yushin System grew intense despite this
suppressive atmosphere, the Park Administration invoked the Emergency Measure No.
4 on April 3rd, 1974, claiming that the National League of Democratic Youths and
Students tried to upset the government instigated by North Korea. The Emergency
Measure No. 4 was an oppressive action that allowed the government to sentence the
death penalty to those who participated in the demonstrations against it or criticized it,
as well as the members of the National League of the Democratic Youths and Students,
and to close down its violator’s school.

● The Outline
At the beginning of 1974, the student movement searched for a new direction
in their activities faced with the unprecedented iron-fisted rule in the form of the
Emergency Measure No.1 and No.2. With the recognition that their struggle against the
Yushin System could not have its effect through scattered, individual demonstrations at
different universities, the leadership of the student movement centering around Seoul
National University tried to form a nationwide, united organization for their struggle,
i.e., the National League of Democratic Youths and Students.
The leadership consisted of the senior student group that led earlier struggles
against the constitutional amendment for the third term of a president in 1969 and
against the military training at school in 1971, and the junior student group that
organized the demonstration at Seoul National University in October, 1973. The
leadership tried to build a network among different universities and regions, as well as
constant ties with the opposition personages and the religious figures. The plan,
however, was detected by the authority, and the members of the leadership were chased
and arrested by the investigation agencies. Consequently, the united demonstration
planned for April 3rd, 1974, turned out small-sized scattered demonstrations at different
universities. Altogether 169 persons concerned with the case of the National League of
Democratic Youths and Students had been arrested until the end of November, 1974.

● The Characteristics
The case of the National League of Democratic Youths and Students that
resisted against the Park Junghee Administration under the slogan of “Overthrow the
Yushin System,” has its significance in the history of the Korean student movement in
several ways. First, the progressive student activists formed through the case of the
National League of Democratic Youths and Students came to constitute the middle
leadership of the democratization struggle since the mid 1970s. A considerable number
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of participants in the National League of Democratic Youths and Students supplemented

the personnel for the social movements, devoting their lives in the democratization
movement after their release from confinement, as well as connected each social
movement in different fields in an organic way.
Second, through the National League of Democratic Youths and Students was
tried, though elementary, a nationwide organization and task allotment through linking
different university and regional organizations. The leadership of the National League
of Democratic Youths and Students prepared for a nationwide demonstration following
the so-called “3.3.3 principle.” They tried to link different colleges of Seoul National
University with the first three axes of the organization: the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, the College of Law, and the Commercial College. They, then, tried to build a
network among different universities in the Seoul area with the second three axes: Seoul
National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University. The nationwide
organization was to be completed with the linkage among the third axes: Seoul National
University, Kyungpook National University, and Chonnam National University. The
leadership also tried build a network that include high school students and the
personages in the religious world.
Third, to evaluate the level of the social consciousness of the leadership based
on the “Declaration for People, Nation, and Democracy” distributed under the name of
the National League of Democratic Youths and Students, the characteristics of their
management system and plans for social reformation seem to have much to be desired.
Their line of struggle, however, became the guide post for the Korean society, being
further developed especially in the mid 1980s.

2. The Case of the University Student Union Presidents Taken to the Police
Station (May 17, 1980)

● The Context
Street demonstrations by university students and emergency declarations by
professors were spreading throughout the nation. The more intense the people’s
demand for democratization became, the worse the governmental suppression became.
The country was still under the martial law proclaimed at 4 p.m. on October 27, 1979,
after the death of the former president, Park Junghee. The presidents of the student
unions at 23 universities around the nation agreed upon holding nonviolent intramural
demonstrations until further notice, and announced their statement demanding the
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withdrawal of the martial law. On May 14th, altogether 27 presidents of the university
student unions resolved to hold street demonstrations, and around 100,000 students
from 34 universities around the country participated in the street demonstrations. On
May 15th, the street demonstrations of university students reached its climax, including
the one in the square in front of the Seoul Station where more than 100,000 students
gathered and demanded the withdrawal of the martial law.

● The Outline
After the nationwide street demonstration on May 15th, 95 representatives from
55 universities around the country gathered together at Ehwa Women’s University and
held the first meeting of the university student union presidents from 5:30 p.m. on May
16th. They decided to stop all demonstrations both on the campus and in the street
temporarily, and were discussing their future measures, when hundreds of the policemen
made a raid on the campus and arrested 18 members of the leadership.
At midnight on May 17th, the martial law was expanded and airborne units
marched into different universities. The students at school were taken to the police
station indiscriminately, and agents from the joint investigation headquarters went to the
houses of the student union leaders and of the students who returned from the army, and
arrested them at discretion. More than 200 students from about 38 universities around
the country were either taken to the police station or arrested around May 17th.

● The Characteristics
The leadership of the student movement decided to stop the street
demonstrations that had been held for several days in a large scale, so that they would
not give the cause for the military authorities to expand the martial law. The new
military authorities expanded the martial law when the students’ demonstrations were in
a state of lull, and oppressed the leadership of the student movement who formed the
core of the demonstration for the withdrawal of the martial law and democratization.
The new military authorities tried to shut out the resistance against the expansion of the
martial law in advance, by separating the student movement from the people.
The leadership of the student union of Chonnam National University hid
themselves at the news that the leadership of each university student union had been
taken to the police station. Around 11 p.m. on May 17th, a number of young people,
students, professors, the leaders of different social movement organizations, and the
opposition personages were taken by the martial army. When the leaders of the student
union of Chonnam National University were still in refuge, the May 18 Uprising took
Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

place. With this case, the May 18 Uprising became isolated, and the struggle to search
for the truth of the Uprising became fractured.

3. The Case of the Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation (October 17th,
1986)

● The Context
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation was originated in the
“Danjae’s Theory Study Group.” It was the first group of students that professed for an
ideological movement, and insisting the followings: the immediate dismantlement of the
ideology circle system which was the basic frame for the student movement in Seoul
National University, the exposition of sectarianism, the abolition of the student number
system and other vestiges of the feudalistic system in the student movement
organizations. As an alternative to the existing system, the group also suggested to
make a united organization for the student movement.
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation assembled the student
activists’ will that was scattered before due to the absence of a united organization,
formulating main principles and rules and organizing the group through persuading
other students. The Federation had its inaugural meeting along with more than 100
students in Room 404 of the Natural Sciences College in Seoul National University on
March 29, 1986.

● The Outline
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation displayed full-out activities
as “the Struggle Committee for Autonomy Against American and Democratization
Against Fascism” was inaugurated on April 10th, 1986. The Federation divided their
struggle sectors into the struggle for autonomy against America, the struggle for
democratization against Fascism, and the struggle for the promotion of the Korean
reunification, based on the NLPDR (National Liberation People’s Democracy
Revolution).
In May, 1986, the Federation carried out their movement through “the Special
Struggle Committee for May,” demanding the punishment of those responsible for the
massacre in Gwangju and the constitutional amendment for democracy. On May 21st,
they occupied the U.S. Cultural Center in Busan and staged a sit-down demonstration.
As the Federation was exposed to the intelligence service, many relevant persons were
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arrested.
Under such conditions, the Federation pushed on a plan to organize a student
movement federation in order to construct and solidify the nationwide solidarity. The
Federation was dismantled practically when the Jeon Duhwan regime quelled the
founding ceremony of “the Patriotic Students Struggle Federation” held in Konkuk
University on October 28.

● The Characteristics
The Student Federation for Salvation of the Nation that created a sensation
amongst universities and in Korean society from the end of 1985 until the early 1986.
Their arguments and activities have their significance in the history of student
movement in Korea. They pointed out the U.S. as the source of the dominating power
in Korean society and argued that the ultimate reformation of the Korean society would
be possible only through the anti-America struggle. In this context, the Federation
suggested the Anti-American Save-the-Nation and Reunification Front as the main body
of the reformation. The federation has its significance in professing for an ideological
movement for the first time in Korea.

4. The Case of the Constituent Assembly Group (May, 1986 ~ February, 1987)

● The Context
The demands for democratization through a constituent amendment raised since
the February 12th general election in 1985, brought on the political situation that the
entire country was divided into two groups, with the meeting between the governmental
and the opposition parties at the Presidential Residence on April 30th, 1986. Some
supported the constitution protection while others supported the constitutional
amendment. The social movement sector in Korea, including the student movement,
carried out their struggle to establish the constitution for unification and to abolish the
fascist constitution.
The foundation of the Promotion Committee for the Constitutional Amendment
by the New People’s Party (Shinmindang) in May, 1986, further instigated the
nationwide struggle against the dictatorship of the Jeon Duhwan regime, and led to the
“May 3rd Incheon Meeting.” As the New People’s Party participated in the “National
Assembly Special Committee for the Constitution,” the political situation of the
conservative vs. the united seemed to be formed. The Jeon Duhwan regime, however,
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suppressed the social movement after the Asian Game in September, 1986, claiming that
the discussions on the constitutional amendment were breaking up the public opinion,
and made various political moves to converse the opposition parties into their system.

● The Outline
Around May, 1986, the Constituent Assembly Group asserted the establishment
of the people’s democratic constitution through convening the Constituent Assembly,
not through amending the constitution to introduce the direct presidential election
system. They insisted on convening “the People’s Assembly for the Constitution
Establishment” for their struggle. The group’s affiliated student organization, “the
Student Struggle Committee for the People and Democracy” organized “the National
Student Struggle Committee for the People and Democracy against Imperialism and
Fascism” in may, 1986. The student organization carried out activities around the Seoul
area during the summer vacation, 1986, including the sit-in demonstration at the
headquarters of the New People’s Party and the propagation in the Seongnam industrial
zone.
The Constituent Assembly Group argued that South Korea was under the
indirect rule of the imperialism as its new colony, and advocated the political
independence of the nation. They also observed that the South Korean society had
experienced a condense development of capitalism through subordinate relationship
with the powerful, and defined the Korean capitalism as the monopolistic capitalism of
a new colonial state.
The Constituent Assembly Group recognized the then situation as expecting a
revolution, thus, decided to take the preparatory tasks for the impending revolution.
One of the most important tasks was to equip the people with the consciousness as the
subject of the state power. Recognizing that the constitutional issue was not only a
matter of the “comprehensive system reformation struggle” (the struggle for all the
democratic rights), but also a “medium for the power struggle,” the group insisted on
defining the period as a “constitutional struggle period.” They argued that the
constitutional problem could be solved only through exposing the problems of the
power (i.e., the problems of the subject and the methodology in establishing the
constitution), specifically, through summoning the constituent assembly. From their
viewpoint, the New People’s Party’s proposal of the constitutional amendment for the
direct presidential election was a mere timeserving measure.
Though a great number of students were arrested related to the Constituent
Assembly Group, to limit the category to those at the core of the organization, the
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number sums up to around 20.

● The Characteristics
The Constituent Assembly Group had its aims in resisting the authoritative Jeon
Duhwan Administration, and claimed to overthrow the regime, to establish a democratic
constitution, and to secure the basic rights of the people. Their activities and inclination
contributed to the expansion of the student movement into various fields of the
democratization movement in Korea, and left a great influence on late social
movements as well as the student movement.

5. The Case of the National Council of the University Student Representatives

(August, 1987 ~ March, 1993)

● The Context
Through the experience of the June Uprising in 1987, the Seoul Council of the
University Student Representatives recognized the difficulties in the qualitative and
quantitative expansion of the people’s struggle due to the lack of systematic
organization, and suggested to establish a nationwide leadership that can unite the
consciousness and practices of the struggle. In 1987, the student movement had two
factions: the National Liberation faction and the Constituent Assembly Group faction.
Those in the National Liberation faction, which formed the majority of the student
movement then, constituted local organizations, such as the Seoul Council of the
University Student Representatives, the Student Union Federation in the Honam Area,
and the Busan Student Union Council. After the June Uprising, these local
organizations contrived a national union, and pushed on the establishment of the
National Council of the University Student Representatives, centering around the
student unions of each university.
The National Council of the University Student Representatives had its
inauguration on August 19th, 1987, in Chungnam University where approximately
30,000 students gathered from 95 universities around the country. In the declaration
that the students adopted for the inauguration were included their claims for the
dictatorial military regime to resign, for the United Democratic Party (Tongilminjudang,
the opposition party) to reflect the people’s interests and demands in its political
negotiations with the government party, for the army to keep neutrality, and for the US
to stop intervening in the domestic affairs of South Korea.
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With an indirect election through the representatives of the 6 regions and 19

districts in the country, the students elected Inyeong Lee (Student President of Korea
University) as the chairman, and Sangho Woo (Student President of Yeonsei University)
and three other students as the vice-chairman of the National Council of the University
Student Representatives.

● The Outline
The National Council of the University Student Representatives carried out
activities through the following struggles for autonomy, democracy, and reunification:
the fair election monitoring group during the presidential election in December, 1987;
the struggle to achieve the South-North Youths and Students’ Meeting on June 10th and
August 15th in 1988; the November struggle to liquidate the Gwangju issue and the 5 th
Republic; Im Sukyeong’s participation in the Pyeongyang commemoration in 1989;
organizing the August 15 national meeting in 1990; the struggle to commemorate and
succeed the spirit of the May 18 Uprising.
Facing the presidential election in December, 1987, those in the student
movement were divided into two factions according to their positions: those who
advocated the “critical support” to Kim Daejung, and those who advocated the
“unification of the candidate for the opposition parties.” In this context, the Constituent
Assembly Group came to participate in the National Council of the University Student
Representatives from 1988.
To highlight some of the major activities of the National Council of the
University Student Representatives until its dissolution in March, 1993:
-

III. Major Meetings and Demonstrations Related to the Student Movement

1. The April Revolution (February 28th ~ April 26th, 1960)

● The Context
The April Revolution started as the resistance against the injustice and illegal
conducts of the Lee Seungman Administration during the presidential election on March
15th, 1960. Its actual cause, however, was the explosion of the people’s anger against
the Lee Administration’s contradictory structure in general. Through the March 15
election, the Lee Administration of the 1st Republic committed unfair conducts
mobilizing all the state institutions in order to grasp the political power again. The state
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power oppressed the opposition parties and terrorized the candidates of the opposition
parties and the voters even in broad daylights. The police suppressed the
demonstrations against the violence and injustice of the Lee Administration, instead of
monitoring the unfairness of the election. The political gangs, especially, such as the
anticommunist youths groups used violence all around the country and many were
victimized by them. As the result, Lee Seungman won the election with 9,663376 votes
amongst 11,196,490, and Lee Gibung became the vice-president with 8,337,597 votes.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, won 1,843,758 votes.

● The Outline
The demonstrations to censure the unfair election started from the protest
against the Lee Administration stopping the people from participating the campaign
meeting of Jang Myeon, the vice-president candidate of the Democratic Party on
February 28th, 1960. It was high school students in the Gyeongsangbuk-do area who led
the demonstration. After the demonstration, the situation seemed to resume peace, but,
students’ demonstrations for the freedom of the schools and for

As for the ideological aspect of the student and the intellectual’s movement in the
1980s, one of the most distinctive features is the appearance of the class perspective and
the nationalist perspective. In other words, the students and the intellectuals in South
Korea took their people’s or their nation’s interests and tasks as theirs. Even in the
fields of culture, art, and academia, the national democratization was the most important
task