Seoul Ordinance of Student Rights

People who are opposed to the ordnance fear that the banning of corporal punishment will lead to teachers diminished ability to control their classrooms and to punish violent students.[16] Some who are opposed believe that the protections put forth by the ordinance are redundant because there are already laws against discrimination and corporal punishment.[17] Corporal punishment continues, despite the ban and ordinance, in private schools because they often have a set of rules that attending students agree to[18] and the schools often get permission from parents.[19]

The Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance is the first student rights ordinance in South Korea to include protection on the basis of gender identity.[20] The inclusion of protections on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in the Ordinance were highly controversial, with conservative organizations arguing that these protections promote homosexuality and progressive organizations claiming the protections protect LGBT students.[21] In 2011, many student and nonprofit organizations mobilized to pass a Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance that included protections on the basis of sexual minority status and gender identity. In early 2011, groups like the Korean gay men's organization Chingusai began collecting signatures in favor of the Ordinance from the public and performing signing ceremonies. Major signing campaigns were hosted at Children’s Grand Park on March 6, 2011 and in Seoul Plaza on May 6–7, 2011.[22]

The efforts of such events culminated in the acquisition of over 90,000 signatures from Seoul citizens approving the Ordinance and its protections for LGBT students.[23]

As the ordinance received increasing public support, the protections for LGBT students were targeted by conservative groups. In order to ensure the inclusion of LGBT protections in the ordinance, multiple LGBT organizations including Chingusai and Solidarity for LGBT Rights of Korea collaborated to hold three emergency meetings on September 14, September 22 and October 4, 2011.[24]

Together, LGBT groups organized social media initiatives, spoke at public events such as the 2011 National Workers Convention, and orchestrated protests.[25]

Many cases where the ordinance has been implemented have been observed within the education system. In Seoul, a middle school ethics teacher was investigated by the Office of Education due to her hateful comments addressed toward homosexual individuals. The students reported their teacher to an online portal for petitions called Sinmungo. The informants claimed the teacher said, “homosexuality is an abominable and filthy crime. Homosexuals should be gathered in one place and burned.” Under the Ordinance for Students’ Rights, no minorities could be discriminated against. Homosexual individuals also fell into the minority category and the teacher was investigated.[26]

Another case where the Ordinance of Students’ Rights was implemented was in 2016, when an instructor at a private university in Seoul was fired for hate speech. The instructor was hired to teach liberal arts but instead she used her platform to promote a hateful attitude towards homosexuality. During class she referred to homosexuality as a disease and claimed that all homosexual individuals were infected with HIV/AIDS. She pushed her students to complete assignments that forced them to agree with her views, which eventually led to students organizing and protesting to get her fired. She was then fired from her position. The university made it a requirement following that incident for teachers to refrain from engaging in hate speech.[27]

The Ordinance of Students’ Rights served as a gateway to the Seoul National University Human Rights Guidelines. The importance of having students’ voices be heard is found in the creation of anti-discriminatory legislature such as this. On September 7, 2016 the Seoul National University Human Rights Guidelines were added upon during a meeting which unanimously voted to pass the law that prevents people from discriminating against sexual minorities. This faced a lot of backlash from religious organizations such as the Seoul National University Christian Faculty Association and the Christian Alumni Association. Regardless of the backlash, sexual minorities would be protected under the new guidelines that were passed.[28]

There has also been in increase in the election of students who have came out as being homosexual to serve as council members on the university councils. One example of a homosexual individual who has been elected to serve on a university council is Bo-mi—who was elected to be president of the Seoul National University student council.[29]