"'No Emoticons or AirPods' Controversy Sparks at a University in Jeonbuk Over 'Strict Discipline' Measures"

Amid social network service (SNS) revelations that a university in the Jeonbuk region forced dress codes on freshmen, controversy over 'disciplining within the university' has arisen.
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[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Suwan] Amid social network service (SNS) revelations that a university in the Jeonbuk region forced dress codes and other regulations on freshmen, controversy over 'military-like discipline in universities' has erupted.

On the 12th, posts exposing the bad practices of a certain university in Jeonbuk appeared on university communities and SNS.

The poster shared a screenshot of a group chat room, claiming it was a 'freshman notice.' The post announced three regulations freshmen must follow: contact format, dress code, and greeting format.

The contact format required freshmen to follow these rules when contacting seniors: △ No use of emoticons such as commas, question marks, or exclamation marks △ When contacting between 00:00 and 09:00, use the phrase "Sorry for contacting you so early, senior" △ When contacting between 21:00 and 00:00, use the phrase "Sorry for contacting you so late, senior" △ When the day changes, add the sentence "Hello? This is senior so-and-so" △ End every sentence with "senior" or "professor" △ If drinking alcohol, contact the class vice representative, who then informs the seniors △ Notify when leaving to go home.

The dress code prohibited △ skinny or ripped pants, white pants, and slacks △ hair must be tied up so ears are visible △ no dress shoes or height-increasing sneakers △ AirPods (wireless earphones) were also banned.

The greeting format required greeting professors, teaching assistants, and seniors in that order, and forbade greeting seniors first if a professor was present. It also instructed not to greet second-year students first if a third-year senior was present.

Upon learning of these details, netizens voiced criticism such as "Focus on building your resume to get a job at university," "Stop passing down strange customs. What era is this that such things still happen?" and "This is embarrassing for the school."

Harsh treatment within universities is not a recent issue. Every year, posts pointing out the abuse of power by seniors towards freshmen appear on university communities, becoming a social problem. Photo by Yonhap News

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Harsh treatment within universities is not a new issue. Every year, posts criticizing seniors' abuse of freshmen appear on university communities, becoming a social problem.

Previously, in March last year, a freshman at a university in Incheon posted about seniors' abuse on the university community, sparking controversy over 'military-like discipline' between seniors and juniors.

At that time, the whistleblower wrote, "I won't reveal the department to avoid personal issues. I will blow the whistle," and "The service department's military discipline isn't about hitting, but it's really severe. I couldn't stand it anymore, so after meeting with the professor today, I applied for withdrawal," appealing for help.

He continued, "Have some shame. What good is it if you don't greet? Comments like 'Our department has no military discipline at all. We're happy' were all ordered by seniors," and "I sincerely pray that the second-year seniors in the service department fail to get jobs and become unemployed."

According to the post, the department had created its own rules for juniors, such as banning SNS use, visiting pubs near the school, and posting couple photos on SNS, and enforced them.

When the post spread, netizens reacted with disbelief, saying, "I can't believe this happened inside a university," "Seniors are creating strange bad customs instead of helping juniors," and "Is there really a school with such rules?"

Experts also pointed out that the school atmosphere tolerating a culture of strict discipline is problematic. Photo by Yonhap News

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According to a survey conducted by Albacheonguk, a job and part-time job portal, in 2018 targeting 1,028 university student members from 20 universities nationwide on the topic "What do you think about university military discipline culture?", more than half (57.6%) answered "Yes" to the question "Have you experienced seniors' abuse?"

The types of abuse ranked first and second as "forced greetings" (34%) and "forced drinking" (18.4%). Following were "forced restrictions on makeup, hairstyle, and dress" (10.7%), "restrictions related to messenger use" (10.4%), "physical punishment" (10.2%), "sexual harassment" (3.9%), and "unilateral assault" (2.4%).

Additionally, 79.6% of university students expressed the opinion that university military discipline culture "should disappear for any reason."

Experts pointed out that the school atmosphere tolerating military discipline culture is also a problem.

Professor Jeong Heejun of Dong-A University's College of Sports Science appeared on SBS Radio's "Hansoojin's SBS Observatory" and said, "Professors also tolerate the military discipline culture," adding, "Professors are definitely perpetrators in the sense that they enjoy this culture."

Professor Jeong further noted, "Issues like hierarchy, military discipline, and physical punishment in universities have persisted for about 7 to 8 years. Most of the time, when problems arise, the administration tries to gloss over them within the school. That's why the university military discipline culture has not been eradicated."

He advised, "School authorities must actively respond and strive to eradicate the problem. Then, appropriate punishment should be given to problematic students. Also, the Ministry of Education needs to strictly demand each university to prevent such issues from occurring through administrative procedures."

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