More Than 3,000 University Professors Have Called For Korea’s President To Step Down

Thousands of university professors nationwide are calling on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down.

These academics have signed statements and declarations casting doubt on the President’s qualifications. The many professors have therefore demanded that he resign right away.

Beginning on October 28 at Gachon University, the wave of declarations has quickly expanded throughout the academic community.

He has been called to leave by more than 3,400 professors from 56 universities, including national universities like Incheon, Chungnam, and Chonnam, as well as prominent institutions like Yonsei, Korea, and Hanyang universities, and Ewha Womans University.

They ‘bleed’ about the “state of the nation” by citing a litany of complaints.

Yoon’s public approval rating fell from 41% in April 2022, right before his inauguration, to a record-breaking 17% in early November 2024, according to Gallup Korea. In 2024, his highest rating was hardly higher than 29%.

Seoul National University (SNU), the country’s top university and Yoon’s alma mater, released its own declaration on 28 November, signed by 525 professors and researchers.

“We reject a president who undermines democracy,” it stated.

About 450 of the 525 SNU signatories are active faculty members, making up around 20% of the university’s 2,300 full-time faculty. This number does not include emeritus professors and lecturers.

The number may rise even more as more people keep adding their names.

The SNU declaration read:

“SNU must reflect on whether it has produced soulless technocrats instead of imparting the values of human rights and democracy. President Yoon must step down without delay. For the future of Korean society, his resignation is inevitable.”

At a press conference on 28 November in the auditorium of the SNU Museum, Jung Yong-wook, a professor in the department of history, said:

“The participation of 525 professors and researchers from Seoul National University is unprecedented in the history of the university’s declarations on national issues.”

Some of the professors believe that the significance of these declarations is in their capacity to reintroduce cynical citizens into the public arena, thereby establishing a forum for contentious debate.

“There is immense anger over the fact that the highest authority is making remarks that show an unimaginable disregard for the values of democracy and that proper procedures are being violated. There is also significant anger at [Yoon’s] shamelessness and lack of embarrassment”, one of them said.

“You are no longer our president” was the title of Yonsei University’s statement, which was signed by more than 177 professors and made public on November 21.

Many academics actually remembered the statements made by professors during large-scale demonstrations in 2016, just before former President Park Geun-hye was impeached.

Professors and students at more than 100 universities, beginning with Ewha Womans University and Sogang University, united in demanding Park’s removal within a week of calls for her impeachment gaining traction in October 2016.

Yoon still has two and a half years left in office, in contrast to the 2016 impeachment, which took place with one year left in Park’s term.

Among the crises and missteps cited in the declarations were the Yoon administration’s reductions in research and development budgets, the worsening healthcare crises brought on by a boycott by medical professors and students that has lasted for over a year over the government’s decision to raise medical school quotas, and a worsening economic downturn.

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The SNU declaration denounced the government’s handling of the nation’s broader crises, which have rocked the academic community and the public. Examples include the October 2022 Itaewon Halloween crowd crush that killed 159 people and the July 2023 flood rescue incident that killed Marine Corporal Chae because there were not enough safety precautions in place.

“What is even more alarming than these policy failures is the collapse of the democratic system. Instances where the mechanisms meant to safeguard press freedom, citizens’ rights, and the public’s right to know are being weaponised to suppress critical voices from the media and the people have openly occurred under this administration,” the SNU professor’s declaration said.

Kim has been questioned by district prosecutors as part of an investigation into allegations she bribed Myung, in violation of the Political Funds Act, to gain his assistance in securing the nomination.

In a press conference on 7 November, the president denied wrongdoing. With regard to Myung, he said: “I didn’t do anything inappropriate and have nothing to hide regarding Myung Tae-kyun.”

Myung, who bills himself as a political consultant, has been convicted of fraud in the past and is also under investigation for alleged violations of election laws. On November 15, Myung and Kim were both taken into custody on suspicion of breaking laws pertaining to political finance.