Spray paint and protest banners cover the walls and pavements of Dongduk women’s university in Seoul. “We’d rather perish than open our doors,” reads one slogan. Since 11 November, students have staged a sit-in, initially occupying the main building and blocking access to classroom buildings across campus, forcing classes to move online and a planned job fair to be cancelled.
The outcry was sparked by plans for some departments to admit male students but have since spiralled into a wider clash over the future of women-only spaces in a country that is grappling with the issue of gender equality.
“The university’s unilateral decision, made without any input from the students who actually study and live here, left us with no choice but to raise our voices,” one member of Dongduk’s student council says, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In South Korea, women’s universities were established in the early 20th century as one of the only paths to higher education for women in a strictly patriarchal society.
Today, they are seen by some as vital institutions for nurturing female talent in a country that remains deeply male-dominated. South Korea ranks 94th out of 146 countries in gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum. Women hold just 20% of parliamentary seats and make up only 7.3% of executives at the country’s 500 largest companies.
Yoonkyeong Nah, a professor of cultural anthropology at Yonsei University, says that, more broadly: “The protests reflect how young Korean women feel unsafe in public spaces”, citing the prevalence of illegal filming, stalking, and digital sex crimes, including the latest deepfake pornography epidemic.
“While providing safe spaces isn’t the primary purpose of women’s universities, students are protesting to maintain what they see as a secure environment for learning – it reveals broader problems in Korean society,” Nah says.
The backlash
The outcry began after students discovered the university administration had been discussing plans to convert its design and performing arts departments to become co-educational.
Administrators insist co-education was only one proposal being discussed – citing practical needs for male actors in performing arts and long-term competitiveness concerns.
On Thursday, a partial agreement saw classes resume after the university agreed to temporarily suspend co-education discussions, but on Monday, a meeting between student leaders and university administrators reportedly ended without resolution, with students refusing to end their occupation of the main building until the complete withdrawal of the co-education plans.
In a statement afterwards, university president Kim Myung-ae warned of “resolute action” against what she described as illegal protests that had violated educational rights.
As the weeks have gone by, the dispute has increasingly become a political battleground.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling conservative party, declared that “instigators of violent incidents” must be held accountable for property damage, while Lee Jun-seok, another prominent lawmaker who has frequently clashed with women’s groups, criticised the protests as “uncivilised”.
The head of a state-run human resources agency suggested “weeding out” the university’s graduates during hiring rounds and declared he “would never accept” a daughter-in-law from the institution.
In response, opposition politicians have accused conservatives of weaponising the protests to deflect from their own political troubles, including allegations of election nomination interference. Former lawmaker Jang Hye-young condemned what she called “women bashing” tactics and warned they only “make life more difficult for all women in South Korea”.
“Stop using us”, said Choi Hyun-ah, president of Dongduk’s student council, in a recent interview with local daily Kyunghyang Shinmun. “Those who frame this as a gender conflict are simply using students to justify their own views.”
In a later statement, the council said politicians and other officials “fail to see the essence and context of the situation, dismissing us simply as ‘rioters’.”
The protests have also sparked a strong anti-feminist backlash online.
The “male rights” anti-feminist group New Men’s Solidarity has weighed in. The group’s leader, recently convicted for defaming a feminist activist, has threatened to expose the personal information of the “rioters” online, prompting safety concerns.
One female YouTuber with over 60,000 followers who voiced support for the protesters was forced to shut down her account after allegedly facing sexual harassment and impersonation attempts.
In the background, a demographic crisis
The dispute also reflects deeper structural challenges posed by South Korea’s changing demographics, says Kyuseok Kim, a higher education expert and scholar.
Student enrolment in higher education has plunged 18% to 3 million students over the past decade as the country’s already low birthrate continues to slide, forcing some institutions to potentially shutter departments or close entirely.
“Universities face a precarious balancing act: preserving their identity while implementing the changes necessary to secure their future,” Kim says. “Even legacy institutions are being forced to reconsider their identities amid unprecedented demographic pressures”.
After students overwhelmingly voted last week in favour of the protests, Choi Hyun-ah, the student council president said: “We have made history today in our fight for a democratic Dongduk.
“The existence of women’s universities is about advancing women’s educational rights; transitioning to co-education would mean there’s no reason for us to exist at all.”
