When Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul announced it would be opening its doors to male students, it faced a backlash like no other.
In November 2024, Dongduk Women’s University students staged a strike in the campus plaza.
Dressed in their uniforms, they sat together in the plaza’s centre, holding up their mobile phones with flashes turned on, and sang “Into the New World” by Girls’ Generation, a South Korean girl group anthem symbolising unity and resistance.
The gathering was sparked by the university’s announcement that it would begin admitting male students. This decision, made without prior consultation with students, triggered widespread outrage on campus and escalated into a large-scale protest.
More than a century ago, education in Korea was exclusively for men, leaving women with few opportunities to learn. In 1886, an American missionary established the first school for women, aiming to empower women through education and challenge deeply rooted gender stereotypes. These pioneering efforts led to the founding of women’s universities, 14 of which still operate today.
Korea’s declining school-age population has pressured single-sex institutions, including universities, to adopt co-educational models. Rumours suggest that Dongduk Women’s University has been quietly advancing plans for co-education, allegedly keeping discussions hidden from students for six years.
“This is fundamentally about a school denying its students their basic rights.”
Umung
The university’s students’ union sought to uncover details and relay the students’ concerns to university officials, but their efforts were met with a refusal to engage in dialogue.
The female students of Dongduk refused to bow to the university’s neglect and injustice. In response, uniform jackets were cast aside, and banners bearing messages like “Abolish the university” and “Democracy is dead” were prominently displayed.
Symbols of anger and grief, including wreaths of condolence and red graffiti, covered the campus, while the bronze bust of founder Cho Dong-sik was splattered with eggs and paint.
The resistance extended to symbolic acts. The campus radio broadcast “Girls Never Die,” an anthem of defiance with lyrics declaring:
Gonna go all the way, not gonna give up this time,
We stand up even when we fall,
Girls never die; girls never cry.
Fortunately, the students weren’t fighting alone. Graduates joined the protests, returning their diplomas and scattering them across campus. Protest trucks with messages like “Sisters earned money for this fight — don’t be discouraged!” amplified support.
The movement grew into a collective effort among Korea’s women’s universities. On November 12, Deoksung Women’s University issued a statement letter titled “Urging Dongduk Women’s University to Completely Withdraw the Co-Education Conversion Plan,” highlighting solidarity and the importance of preserving women’s universities.
“We hope this alliance will expand and endure,” it declared. Students from other women’s universities showed support by placing their uniforms on Dongduk’s campus, carefully bagging them to protect against rain — a symbol of their unwavering dedication.
The offline protests quickly ignited heated debates on social media, with many Korean men criticising the demonstrators. A self-proclaimed male HR employee declared he would no longer hire graduates from Dongduk Women’s University, while others disparaged the protesters as “crazy bitches.”
The Seoul Police attempted to intervene and calm the demonstrators, but their actions drew backlash after officers reportedly made stereotypical remarks to the students, such as, “You will get married and have children.” These comments were seen as deeply offensive, further fuelling the protestors’ resolve and sparking widespread anger among the students.
Umung, a student at Dongduk, stated: “Please don’t reduce the protests to a mere gender conflict. This is fundamentally about a school denying its students their basic rights.”
Syong, another student, added, “What we need is more than symbolic gestures: a complete withdrawal of the co-education policy and the establishment of a direct election system. That is the ultimate aim of our protest.”
The protests at Dongduk Women’s University became more than a response to a single policy — they symbolised a fight for students’ rights and sparked a broader societal discussion about gender equality.
While Korea’s declining birth rate poses significant challenges, exploiting women’s rights and eroding women-centred spaces is not the solution.
This movement highlighted the vital role of women’s institutions in advancing gender equity and the persistent struggles against systemic discrimination. It underscored the need for meaningful progress through open communication and mutual understanding to develop solutions that respect modern societal values and the rights of all.
On November 20, during a student assembly, the co-education proposal was voted on. Out of 1,973 participants, 1,971 (99.9%) voted against it.
The following day, after a three-hour meeting with student representatives, the university announced it would halt discussions on transitioning to co-education. Classroom blockades were lifted, and classes resumed, ending the two-week protests.
Throughout the protests, students transformed from passive participants to active defenders of their rights. However, the fight for gender equality and women’s rights remains an ongoing mission, both for the students at women’s universities in South Korea and for future generations.
Featured image by Paran Koo via Unsplash.