Suh Nam-pyo - love him or hate him?

A student holds a placard at a rally at the KAIST campus in Daejeon last week, demanding President Suh Nam-pyo step down to take responsibility for the suicides of students. The placard reads “President Suh Nam-pyo! What we need now is your apology and to scrap your style of reforms.” / Yonhap

By Han Sang-hee

Should Suh Nam-pyo, the president of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), step down? That is the question hotly debated not only within the school itself but by the entire nation.

Suh, at the center of criticism for his drive to encourage competition at the cost of students’ lives, still remains firm to not give in nor step down.

Known to be one of the brightest minds in the country, and hence heading one of the most prestigious schools in Korea Suh’s reputation and current state of leadership is under direct fire with nowhere to hide.

Suh bashers

The five deaths definitely dealt a blow to the prestigious school, but with the right leadership at the right time, things may turn around.

In the meantime, the situation is not so optimistic for Suh. The major scar is the suicides of four KAIST students and one professor.

The causes may have differed, but the last death definitely triggered public outcry with demands for firmer measures from the school and its president. In this case, the demands gradually included Suh’s resignation.

“It’s hard to avoid the fact that Suh does hold responsibility. I think he should take responsibility somehow. We should try to find some solutions, but if things don’t sort out, he should step down,” a professor from KAIST said in a phone interview, declining to be named.

The penalty of tuition payments rolled out naturally, followed with the “excessive” English lectures. Many professors inside and outside of KAIST pointed out the difficulties and inconveniences the English-only lectures caused, saying that it was a difficult system for both students and professors to adhere to.

A recent upset was the unclear position of the school as of Tuesday night. KAIST released a document concerning the revision of certain policies that ignited discord last night at around 7 p.m., but five hours later, the school explained that the press release was intended as an internal document that was to be discussed with students.

Fans of Suh

The mistake doubted the school’s intentions and questioned the current conditions on sending such a touchy document to reporters at such a difficult time.

Meanwhile, there has been a rather quiet movement from those who actually support Suh and his policies.

The KAIST International Student Association (KISA) has not voiced its opinion openly, but said that it was planning to meet with the Korean student council as well as the school committee next week to discuss matters and come up with a consensus on troubling issues.

Karim Charfi from Tunisia and the vice president of KISA said that it supports Suh and that the issue should be looked at from a broader view, not by attacking a single person.

“Suh has done so much. When I first came to KAIST two years ago, the school was not highly ranked, but now it ranks 21st among other science universities around the world,” Charfi said in a phone interview.

“Of course, I understand the pressure. In terms of the English lectures, when you go to graduate school, English is a requirement. I am sure President Suh will make the right decision,” he added.

Another international undergraduate student and a member at KISA also said that there are a lot of people who still support Suh and his changes to lead KAIST to be a global university.

“I know that it’s hard to sometime accept failure. But it’s exactly what we have to taste in order to grow up,” he wrote.

He further explained that students had created a Facebook page to openly express their opinions, share perspectives and further support Suh.

It was evident that there were many students who believed that Suh’s resignation will not resolve the crisis or make their lives at the school any better.

“(Are the deaths) only because of him?,” he said.

“What KAIST needs now is some improvements to students’ lives, not a removal of all the positive changes they did to achieve the current position of KAIST in the world.”

서남표 옹호론자와 비판론자

서남표 카이스트 총장의 사퇴 여부가 뜨거운 감자로 떠오르고 있다. 사퇴 여부를 놓고 벌어지는 쌍방대립은 카이스트에 국한 되지 않고 국가 전체로 확대되고 있어 관심은 증폭되고 있다.

서총장은 카이스트 학생들을 무한경쟁 속에 몰아넣어 결국 자살으로까지 가게 했다는 비난에도 불구하고 사퇴의사가 없음을 밝힌 바 있다.

카이스트 학생 4명과 교수 1명의 자살은 분명히 서총장을 궁지에 몰아 놓고 있다. 직접적인 원인은 아니었을 지라도, 일련의 자살들은 대중들의 화살이 서총장에게로 향하게 하기에 충분했다. 총장이 시행했었던 징벌적 등록금제도와 100% 영어강의에 대한 비판은 자연스럽게 흘러 나왔다.

카이스트를 포함한 기타 대학들의 교수들도 영어강의가 학생들과 교수들을 모두 어렵게 하고 있다고 지적하기도 하였다.

또 카이스트 측은 12일 오후 7시에 발표한 카이스트 학사운영 개선안이 학생들과 대화할 내부문서였다고 밝히면서 그 의도에 대한 의혹이 증폭되고 있다.

현재 카이스트의 외국인 학생회(KISA)는 말을 아끼고 있으나 한국인 학생회와 학교측 위원회와 함께 다음 주쯤에 대화를 나눌 예정이다.

외국인 학생위원회의 부회장인 카림 카피는 서총장을 옹호하며, 이 문제는 개인을 공격할 것이 아니라 좀 더 넓은 시야에서 바라보아야 한다고 밝혔다.
외국인 위원회의 베트남 대표인 라반홍찬은 아직 많은 사람들이 서총장을 옹호하고 있음을 밝혔다.

그는 “(자살들은) 오직 그 사람 한 명 때문인가? 카이스트가 필요한 것은 학생들의 실질적인 복지이지, 작금의 카이스트가 있기 까지 모든 좋은 변화들을 부정하는 것이 아니다” 라고 말했다.