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On the 5th, ballot boxes transferred from Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul arrive at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, the counting center, where vote counting begins under the observation of poll watchers. /Yonhap News

Student councils from major universities nationwide will hold simultaneous emergency statements calling for countermeasures and condemning the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections.

The Yonsei University Student Council Emergency Committee announced on the 9th that student councils from 12 major universities across the country will hold joint emergency statements and picket protests simultaneously at 6 p.m. on the 10th at their respective campuses, marking the anniversary of the June 10 Democratic Uprising.

Participating universities include Konkuk University, Korea University, Kyung Hee University, Sogang University, Seoul National University, University of Seoul, Sungkyunkwan University, Soongsil University, Yonsei University, Chonnam National University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and Hongik University.

The joint statement was organized in response to the ballot shortage incident that occurred during the June 3 local elections and the ensuing controversy over voters’ rights being infringed. The participating student councils view the incident as a “serious undermining of democracy,” arguing that the state failed to properly guarantee citizens’ right to vote.

The student councils stated that the coordinated message is intended to reflect a unified stance from the university community and to amplify the voices of the younger generation in defense of democracy and suffrage. Specifically, they plan to call for a thorough investigation through a parliamentary inquiry and a special prosecutor, punishment of those responsible, effective remedies for violations of fundamental rights by the state, reform of the National Election Commission, and the establishment of an independent oversight body with participation from citizens, including youth and university students.

They emphasized, “If the June 10 Democratic Uprising restored the people’s right to vote in history, today we raise our voices to ensure that this right is not violated again,” adding, “We will continue to act until the principle of ‘one person, one vote,’ which is the foundation of Korean democracy, is properly upheld.”

                                                                                                        Kim Hong-chan