SNU student club under fire for absurd online sale

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea's notorious elitism has raised its head again as a student club for “startups” at Seoul National University (SNU), one of the country's most prestigious universities, attempted to sell hand-written encouragement letters and used pens to college entrance test takers and their parents as “good luck” items.

The front gate of Seoul National University

According to the university, Tuesday, the club put the letters, used pens and the school logo-engraved felt-tip pens on sale for 7,000 won ($6.2) through online communities.

“To wish good luck for students, we are offering encouragement messages and pens that were written and used by SNU students for sale,” it said on its website.

“Writers will be chosen randomly, but letters written by students who belong to departments with higher pass marks will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.”

After the online posts came to light, the club faced a harsh backlash, being criticized for fomenting elitism and commercializing an academic clique. Plus, some of the school's online community also denounced it for being embarrassing to the school.

Amid growing criticism, the club deleted its posts and apologized on its social media account.

“Elitism and rankism is a social problem, but we failed to fully recognize it when planning the sale of these items,” it said. “We regret presenting the project that encouraged elitism and rankism and attempting to exploit the school's reputation.”