Pusan National University (PNU) started to reform the 22nd PNU Presidential Election, especially about the composition of the Presidential Appointment Recommendation Committee (PARC). The Faculty Council (FC) complied with the request of General Students' Association (GSA) to increase the proportion of students (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 1, 2023). Consequently, they will accelerate the formation of the PARC that had been stalled. 

On September 12, the GSA, the staff association, and the assistant association announced that they had initiated discussions with the FC regarding the reform of the PARC. It has been a month since both sides sharply opposed each other over the reform. In the discussion, the Dean of the FC, the Dean of staff association, the Dean of the assistant association, and the president of the GSA attended. As the FC accepted the GSA’s proposal, it will proceed this month with five compromise processes.

The main points include increasing the proportion of students, assistants, and staff, reducing the external personnel, and resultantly adjusting the rate for each unit. It reflects the GSA’s suggestion that “the members in a specific occupational group cannot exceed the majority” to prevent the PARC from meeting the quorum only with the members in one group. They will also cover the reduction of the external personnel, which has six members in the PARC now. With this change, the proportion of the staff and assistants will also rise with increasing the students’ proportion. Kim Yo-Seop (Dept. of Korean Language and Literature, 20), the president of the GSA, said, “The exact proportion has not been determined. We will keep discussing and hope to reach an agreement expeditiously through several conversations.”

When the discussion is completed, first of all, PNU regulation about the proportions in the PARC will be revised. In addition to that, the personnel recommendations of the GSA, the staff association, and the assistant association will be conducted. To handle matters within the term of the 21st president, the PARC is going to have a tight schedule.

As both sides narrowed their differences in opinions, the strong actions proposed by the GSA were shelved. On August 17, the GSA had been firm on their purpose, so they conducted a silent picketing before the 8th memorial ceremony for Prof. Ko Hyeon-Cheol and remarked about the boycott of the PARC. They demanded discussions several times, but the FC insisted that if there are discussions about changing the vote reflection ratio after the PARC formation, we will organize a separate committee for the revision of election regulations to ensure the participation of members. On August 30, in response, the GSA revealed that they would initiate additional actions such as a news conference, a press meeting, and a constitutional petition through a telephone interview. This change currently puts those plans on hold.

The GSA aims for the “realization of the direct election of the university president,” starting from this discussion. They expressed commitment to using this agreement as a foundation to bring about changes gradually. The changes include expanding the ratio and encouraging students’ attention and engagement in the election. The GSA president said, “This agreement marks a breakthrough in the discussion. Even if this discussion leads to the next generation of GSA, I will continue to provide ongoing support and share information.”

Reporter Jo Seung-Wan

Translated by Lee Soo-Hyun