By Lee Hyo-sik
Seoul National University (SNU) has asked Naver and other Web portals to remove a parody video produced by protesting students from their domains, saying the satirical video defames the school’s reputation.
An official from the SNU administration said Thursday that the school had requested major Web portals stop posting the video, named the ``Freedom of Chancellor’s Office.’’
``Our legal department raised the possibility that the video may have damaged the university’s reputation as it mocks SNU President Oh Yeon-cheon and the administration as a whole,” the official said.
He said one unidentified major portal has already removed the controversial clip from its bulletin boards, cafes and online community sites.
On June 8, a group of SNU students, who have been staging a sit-in protest occupying the school’s administrative building since May 30, uploaded the clip on YouTube and some other local Web portals, ridiculing the university’s plan to incorporate itself.
It is a parody of the music video, ``Itawon Freedom,’’ produced by popular pop group UV.
The video has been attracting a great deal of attention from Internet users, becoming one of the most viewed clips on local sites.
``We’ve made our decision as some pointed out that satirizing the head of the school may become a legal issue. When we filed a request with Web portals, President Oh was on an overseas business trip,’’ the official said.
About 100 SNU students have occupied the main administration building for 18 straight days since May 30 when more than 500 students broke into the building through windows and sealed off its entrances.
Since then, they have been demanding the school administration drop the incorporation plan.
Students and professors who oppose the plan also claim that the issue warrants a national consensus before being pushed for by the government.
SNU president, Oh, has said the students must halt the protest as a precondition for discussions between him and student representatives.
Protesting students and some professors have urged the prestigious university to shelve the incorporation plan, insisting that it will further hike tuition fees and make the university operate like a profit-oriented enterprise.
The protesting students started Wednesday taking turns staging hunger strikes.
But SNU has argued the plan will help raise its efficacy in operation and its global competitiveness as the school’s bureaucratic structure has harmed its global recognition.
Under the proposal, the university will be turned into an independent entity with its own decision-making system, thus taking it out of the control of the government.