'KAIST Graduation Protest' Green Justice Party Spokesperson to Hold Press Conference on 19th

Published 18 Feb.2024 20:36(KST)

Updated 19 Feb.2024 05:34(KST)

At the KAIST graduation ceremony, Shin Min-ki, spokesperson for the Green Justice Party Daejeon City Branch, who was forcibly removed after protesting the cut in research and development (R&D) budget during President Yoon Seok-yeol's congratulatory speech, will directly express his position at a press conference.

On the 16th, at the 2024 graduation ceremony held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Shin Min-ki, a KAIST graduate and spokesperson for the Green Justice Party Daejeon City Branch, was being restrained while standing up from his seat to protest President Yoon Seok-yeol regarding the R&D budget during the president's congratulatory speech.
[Photo by Presidential Office Press Photographers Group]

The Green Justice Party Daejeon City Branch announced on the 18th that spokesperson Shin, a KAIST graduate, will hold a press conference in front of Daejeon City Hall on the morning of the 19th regarding his forced removal at the graduation ceremony. At the conference, Shin will state his position, followed by solidarity remarks from civic groups.

On the 16th, at the KAIST degree conferment ceremony, Shin criticized the government's cut in R&D support budget to President Yoon but was stopped by presidential security guards and forcibly removed.

The Green Justice Party Daejeon City Branch condemned, saying, "What right does the president have to expel a student attending the graduation ceremony?" and "Despite previous controversies over excessive security, nothing has changed. There was no warning message before the suppression." They added, "Even in the Joseon Dynasty, when one had to go to Hanyang and strike the newspaper drum to report to the king, this would not have happened," emphasizing, "The president only went to give a one-sided speech and has neither the will nor the plan to listen to voices on site, so aren't the security guards representing the president's intentions through excessive security?"