Ahead of the Pusan National University (PNU) Presidential Election to be held in February next year, the problem was raised that the scope of the right to vote was unreasonable. Even though part-time lecturers are legally faculty of PNU, they are not guaranteed the right to exercise their voting rights and participate in the Presidential Appointment Recommendation Committee (PARC).

On September 7th and 12th, the PNU Branch of the Korean Irregular Professor Union (KIPU) issued a statement demanding part-time lecturers' right to vote for the president. The main point of the statement is that "not guaranteeing part-time lecturers' right to vote means not to recognize part-time lecturers as members of PNU." Currently, PNU does not grant the right to vote for part-time lecturers, visiting professors, project professors, and research professors, defined as irregular professors during the presidential election process. The voters are limited to professors, students, assistants, and staff.

Accordingly, the KIPU demands the guarantee of voting rights, centering on part-time lecturers who are legally granted teaching status among irregular professors. PNU defines part-time lecturers according to the Higher Education Act which recognizes part-time lecturers as university faculty. Kim Jae-Gyeong (Chairman, PNU Branch of the KIPU) said, "Part-time lecturers contribute a lot to the university through lectures and research, but their rights are not guaranteed. PNU should guarantee part-time lecturers’ stake in PARC and voters, even at a small percentage."

Discussions on guaranteeing the right to vote for part-time lecturers have been held since the 21st presidential election in 2020. According to the "2019 White Paper on Part-Time Lecturers’ Struggle to Win Presidential Election Rights," which was compiled by KIPU, the right to vote failed with 42% in favor and 58% in opposition in the Faculty Council (FC) vote for the part-time lecturers at the time. Chairman Kim said, "In the discussion at the time, it was pointed out that it was difficult to see part-time lecturers as PNU members because they attended various universities. However, as of 2022, 926 PNU part-time lecturers are responsible for about 40% of the lectures.” He added, “We are fighting for the right to vote, not for the same voting influence as full-time lecturers.”

Regarding the current issue, FC revealed that "It is difficult to answer because it is currently in discussion over the formation of PARC" through an interview on September 14th. FC is currently in consultation with the General Students’ Association, which calls for an increase in the student ratio, focusing on forming PARC regarding the presidential election.

Meanwhile, Chonnam National University (CNU), which experienced a similar case to PNU, has granted part-time lecturers the right to vote since the 21st presidential election in 2020. CNU assigned one part-time lecturer representative to PARC and included part-time lecturers in voters. Chairman Kim said, “Applying the Higher Education Act, CNU was in the same situation as we are, but they guaranteed the right to vote for the president through the struggle.”

Reporter Jeong Da-Min

Translated by Kim Tae-Yi