Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

02-01-2009 17:27
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/117_38757.html

KAIST Head Sues Student for Criticizing School Policy

By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) head Suh Nam-pyo is taking legal action against a student for libel.

A KAIST student wrote comments critical of Suh's policies on his blog and Web portal site Nov. 26 last year, prompting KAIST to sue him for defaming the school and President Suh.

The blogger, identified as Lee, 22, is a student in the Department of Industrial Design. A KAIST freshman in 2005, the student criticized the institution for revising regulations regarding the student presidency just before the election to prevent a candidate who was critical of the school from winning the vote.

He also criticized other school policies, such as imposing different tuition costs according to grades, penalties on students who study at the school after more than eight semesters, a dormitory facility shortage and a change in rules regarding re-taking courses and summer and winter sessions.

Suh is a former chief of MIT's mechanical engineering department and the 13th president of KAIST, appointed in 2006. The KAIST head has pushed many policies to reform the school, and this MIT-style reform shocked the local academic community.

The student wrote on his blog that he was accused of libel on Jan. 28.

``One thing is sure. At KAIST, an individual is not allowed to express one's thoughts freely on his or her private blog,'' Lee wrote. ``How did they find my Internet Protocol (IP) address? Considering the `Minerva' case and the Yongsan tragedy, I'm afraid of living in Korea.''

Netizens compare his situation to the arrest of Park Dae-sung, or Minerva, arguing it was unsound to sue a student for criticizing school policies.

On the student's blog, an Internet user named theliberal said it is absurd for Suh, an educator who has to guide students, to sue the pupil.

Another blogger, Flowiz, said Lee's posting was not something that should be indicted for libel.

Rep. Kim Young-jin of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), a member of the National Assembly Education, Science and Technology Committee, said, ``Suh was careless in suing the student, rather than listening to differing views on his policy.''

``The revision of student board election rules took place before the official schedule of the election, hence it didn't target a specific candidate. However, the student wrote a distorted story about the school on a Web portal site and we had to stop it to prevent more distortions,'' a KAIST official said. ``The school will withdraw the case as soon as the student deletes the posting and apologizes.''

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[Whistleblower]

So let me get this right:

1. The Uni decides to change some rules which directly affect students.

2. A student analyses the situation and provides some critical analysis.

3. The Uni sue the student for defamation.

Is the Uni that poor that they have to chase money by suing some students? This student done the right thing and provided critical analysis of the school's policy. As a graduate, I was continually told that to graduate one must always provide some level of critical analysis. This uni is deciding to remove the common human right of freedom of speech. This whole thing just sounds so weird and suspends any future students' ability to critically analyse anything they read, know or understand.

Korea, the land where rules are backwards.

[anjinsan]

Yup!
Let freedom ring!

It is amazing that such cases of "defamation" are the most
widely brought to trial.

What a load!

[ChinaBoy]

The thing is, the defamation suit is going to get a lot more attention than some idiot student writing in his blog.

Now everyone knows KAIST is a joke.

[sarbonn]

I personally think people are seeing this through western eyes as how they perceive this will play out. I don't think anyone is going to be seeing Kaist as bad. Instead. it's going to serve exactly the purpose the lawsuit was intended. It will create a chilling effect on pretty much most citizenry, where citizens of Korea will be scared to death of ever criticizing government or powerful entities in South Korea. Korea is one of those fascinating countries in a continuous period of flux where moves towards democracy are constantly being fought back by oppressive authoritarian leaders who don't want to give up their power, influence and money. This whole battle was started twenty years ago, and it continues to wage today in such an amazing display of myopic actions where no one has a clue how it is going to eventually play out.

[Xuanzang]

One step forward means 10 steps backwards for Korea.