“Pay 5.4 Billion Won”… School vs. Student Council, The Reality of the Unending ‘War of Money’
The lacquer spray protest that dyed Dongduk Women’s University red last November. While the silence of the campus has returned, a brutal legal battle over the astronomical restoration cost of 5.4 billion won has begun under the surface. This paper exclusively obtained and analyzed the certification of contents sent by the school and the student council’s response strategy.
Direction of the Bill: There is No ‘Splitting the Cost’
According to legal analysis, claiming costs from thousands of ordinary students who participated in the protest is realistically impossible. Because there are many CCTV blind spots, and identifying numerous students who covered their faces with masks and hats individually to file lawsuits takes too much cost and time.
Ultimately, the school specified the ‘Student Council Executive Committee’ and ‘21 ringleaders gathered on site’ and filed a lawsuit for damages. It is highly likely that they will be held responsible for joint tort. In other words, the school can claim the full 5.4 billion won from any one of them (joint and several liability), creating a harsh structure where the person who pays must claim the right to indemnity from the rest.
Disappeared Solidarity: From “Are We Strangers” to “Who Are You” Anonymous students who showed hot solidarity during the protest saying “We will all take responsibility together” and “Even collecting 1,000 won each will solve it” have turned cold. Although some fundraising campaigns proceeded, it was a drop in the bucket in front of the huge sum of 5.4 billion won. As the complaints arrived, attempts to draw a line are evident in communities like Everytime, saying “I only watched” or “The militant union made us do it.”
The parents of Student Council Executive A, who received the bill, are in a position where they have to sell their house. A showed tears saying, “I stood in the front for the school, but all that remains is the crisis of becoming a credit delinquent.” It is a punishment too harsh for young people in their early 20s who haven’t even stepped into society yet to bear.
The school headquarters is firm. Their stance is “We will hold them accountable to the end to sound an alarm on the violent protest culture.” They are unyielding in their will to receive compensation not only for the cost of erasing graffiti but also for paralyzed administrative work during the protest and intangible damages due to the tarnishing of external image.
The Truth and Falsehood of 5.4 Billion Restoration Cost: Is the Bill Inflated?
There are points that the school’s estimated damage amount (max 5.4 billion) is overestimated, including the cost of completely replacing building exterior walls. On the other hand, the student council side counters claiming “It can be solved within 200-300 million won if erased with special chemicals."
"Total Replacement” vs “Partial Cleaning”: Technical Issues
The school’s estimate includes the cost of tearing out all marble floors and walls soaked with lacquer and replacing them with new materials. The reason is that lacquer components penetrate deep into the stone, leaving stains even with surface cleaning. On the other hand, a professional cleaning company commissioned by the student council gave an opinion that “Restoration is possible without replacement using the latest technologies like laser cleaning.”
Job Fair Cancellation Penalty 330 Million Won
Besides direct facility damage, ‘indirect damage’ is a point of contention. As the large-scale recruitment job fair scheduled was cancelled on the day due to the protest, the penalty to be paid to participating companies and preparation costs alone amount to 330 million won. This cost has piled up entirely as the debt of the ringleaders.
- Tuition Refund Lawsuit: Some non-activist students are preparing a class action lawsuit against the school and student council saying “Return our tuition since we couldn’t take classes due to the protest.” If students win this lawsuit, the liability for that compensation could also fall on the protest ringleaders, making it a case of ‘misfortune upon misfortune’.
- Expert Appraisal Results: The court will ultimately rule based on the appraisal value calculated by a court appraiser. Typically, the compensation amount will be calculated based on the ‘market value’ considering depreciation rather than the ‘new replacement value’ presented by the school, but the prospect that it will still be in the billions of won is dominant.
Some view that the school is using the lawsuit as a card to tame the student council rather than to actually get the money. The possibility is open that they might withdraw the suit or significantly reduce the amount on conditions such as “official apology from ringleaders, memorandum of non-recurrence, and resignation of student council.” However, the emotional gap between the two sides is too deep to easily find a compromise.
Social Criticism of Protest Methods
Taking this incident as an opportunity, voices of introspection regarding university students’ protest methods are high. The analysis is that property destruction and occupation sit-ins committed under the pretext of “democratic expression” have lost public support.
”Violent Protests are a Legacy of Old Activism”
Even the MZ generation has turned its back. Students from other universities show cynical reactions saying “Lacquer painting crossed the line” and “I hate that my tuition is used to erase that.” Applying the struggle methods of the past dictatorship era as is to the democratized campus of 2025 was a blunder.
Irresponsibility Leaning on Anonymity The behavior of covering faces with masks and hats, scribbling graffiti under the cover of night and running away cannot avoid criticism of being ‘cowardly’. This incident left a painful lesson on what results from deviation committed by being swept up in crowd psychology without the resolve to take responsibility for one’s actions.
Of course, the school’s uncommunicative administration also deserves criticism. Attempting to proceed with ‘co-ed conversion’ discussions unilaterally without gathering student opinions was the trigger of the incident. In that they provided the structural cause that forced students to choose extreme methods, the school is also not free from moral responsibility.
Complete Defeat in Public Opinion War The student council put forward the “Protection of Women’s Education Rights” frame, but it was buried by the “Violent Mob” frame. The public focused on the messenger’s attitude (lacquer terror) rather than the message (opposition to co-ed conversion). It showed that struggles that lose persuasiveness are bound to be isolated.
‘Smart protests’ that deliver messages in creative and peaceful ways, not physical destruction, are needed. It is time to contemplate a new grammar of resistance suitable for 2025, such as SNS challenges, metaverse protests, and drone performances.
Legal Issue Analysis: How Far is Liability for Compensation?
The core issues of this lawsuit are ‘causality’ and ‘limitation of liability’. Will the court recognize the entire 5.4 billion won?
Difficulty in Proving Causality
It is very difficult to specify exactly which part was graffiti painted by a specific student A and how much damage resulted from it. The school will ask for overall responsibility by bundling it as ‘joint acts’, but the defense team will argue individual responsibility saying “I only painted a little in that corner.”
Limitation of Liability Theory (Comparative Negligence) Courts typically reduce the compensation amount if the victim (school) also has responsibility for the occurrence or expansion of damage (comparative negligence). If the school failed to deploy security personnel properly increasing the damage, or neglected student complaints causing the situation, the compensation amount could be reduced by 30-50%.
The student council side will argue justification claiming it was a “legitimate act against the school’s unfair treatment,” but according to precedents, use of physical force that has lost the appropriateness of means and methods is difficult to be recognized as a legitimate act. Especially, the use of lacquer spray which inflicts permanent damage is highly likely to be judged as clear property damage.
Apart from the civil lawsuit, police investigations are also underway. Charges of property damage, intrusion upon a structure, and obstruction of business can be applied. If guilty verdicts are confirmed in criminal trials, it will inevitably work unfavorably in civil lawsuits as well. Students face the crisis of being branded ‘ex-convicts’ and ‘credit delinquents’ simultaneously.
Parents’ Petitions and Settlement Attempts Parents of the sued students have formed a countermeasure committee and are appealing to the school for leniency. They are pleading saying “Please forgive the immature children’s mistake just once,” but the public opinion of the board of directors and alumni association is so strong that settlement is not easy.
Deepening Internal Conflict: Student Council vs. Emergency Committee vs. Ordinary Students
Since the protest, the inside of Dongduk Women’s University is undergoing severe division. The single rank has collapsed and voices blaming each other are growing.
Proliferation of Emergency Response Committees (ERC)
As the leadership of the student council shakes, confusion is aggravating with hardliners and moderates splitting to form respective ERCs. Hardliners argue “We must fight to the end,” while moderates counter “Let’s apologize and settle even now.”
Ordinary Students Appealing Fatigue
The majority of silent ordinary students appeal fatigue saying “It’s embarrassing to attend school” and “I wish it would normalize quickly.” Voices worrying about employment disadvantages due to the image blow caused by the protest are also high. Fights break out in the school community almost every day.
- Division in Faculty Society: Opinions are divided even among professors. The sympathy theory that “students must be protected” clashes with the principle theory that “discipline must be established through strict punishment.”
- Alumni’s Mixed Gazes: Graduates are saddened by the tarnishing of their alma mater’s honor, but opinion reprimanding the juniors’ radical actions is dominant. Some alumni are even expressing dissatisfaction with the school by declaring a halt to development fund donations.
The biggest problem is the recruitment of freshmen for the 2026 academic year right around the corner. Concerns that the competition rate for early admission will plummet as the school image crashes due to this incident are becoming reality. The stigma of “Violent Protest School” can be a fatal blow to admissions results.
Political Intervention and External Force Controversy
As the situation prolongs, political circles and external groups are intervening, making the problem more complex.
Ruling vs. Opposition Political Battle
Political circles are dragging this issue into the frame of ‘gender conflict’ and using it as a tool for political strife. The ruling party emphasizes “strict punishment for illegal violent protests,” while the opposition criticizes the school saying “listen to the students’ voices.” As political interests intervene, the essence is being blurred.
Women’s groups are supporting the students saying “The Dongduk Women’s University struggle is a holy war for the protection of women’s education rights.” They are conducting legal support and fundraising campaigns to empower them, but criticism is also raised in some quarters asking “Aren’t they trying to achieve political goals by putting students in front?”
Suspicion of External Agitator Intervention The school claims that external professional agitators intervened in the protest site and encouraged radical protests. Police investigation results also captured circumstances of some outsiders’ intervention. It is difficult to avoid the point that the pure student movement was contaminated by external forces.
Media outlets are competing in reporting by putting stimulating keywords like ‘5.4 billion damages suit’ and ‘lacquer terror’ in front. Reporting attitudes that incite conflict rather than checking facts are making the resolution of the situation more difficult.
It is regrettable that productive discourse is missing as the focus is buried only in ‘money problems’ and ‘violence’, despite the need for deep social discussions on ‘university democracy’, ‘gender conflict’, and ‘protest culture’ through this incident.
Reactions of Other Universities and Domino Effect
The Dongduk Women’s University incident is causing large ripples in other women’s universities and the university district in general.
All-Stop of Co-ed Conversion Discussions in Women’s Universities
In the aftermath of the Dongduk Women’s University incident, discussions on co-ed conversion that were proceeding in other women’s universities like Sungshin Women’s University and Duksung Women’s University have completely stopped. This is because schools are laying low fearing strong backlash from students. For the time being, the issue of co-ed conversion in women’s universities is expected to sink below the surface.
Contraction of University District Protest Culture As a strong precedent of a 5.4 billion damages suit remains, student councils of other universities are also being cautious about protest methods. The fear that physical occupation or property damage leads directly to ‘bankruptcy’ is acting as a learning effect.
Taking this incident as an opportunity, university headquarters are establishing a stance to strengthen school regulations and respond with a zero-tolerance principle to illegal protests. Concerns that student autonomous activities might shrink coexist with the positive view of establishing campus order.
In university student communities, voices of self-purification are emerging saying “We must protect our rights, but let’s not cross the line.” A consensus is forming that public support must be won through logic and persuasion rather than violence.
New Landscape of University District in 2026 The university district in 2026 will face new changes taking this incident as a lesson. Conflict is unavoidable, but we look forward to the method of resolving that conflict becoming more mature.
Expensive Lesson Learning the Weight of Responsibility
This incident is a tragedy where ‘Crowd Psychology Hiding Behind Anonymity’ and ‘Individualization of Responsibility’ collided. The hands that held lacquer saying “Democratic Expression” quietly disappeared into pockets when the bill arrived.
Suffering of Those Left Behind
What remains in the place everyone left are youth in their early 20s driven to the brink of bankruptcy, and a campus stained like a scar. They are feeling to the bone how easily colleagues who said “Let’s fight together” can turn their backs. This will be a ‘social class’ more cruel and realistic than any major class.
For the Recovery of the University Community
Now we must talk about healing and recovery beyond legal battles. The school must realize that punishment is not the only solution and seek educational solutions, and students must admit the fact that heavy responsibility always follows freedom. Rebuilding collapsed trust will take more time and effort than 5.4 billion won.
The Dongduk Women’s University incident is a mirror showing how immature our society’s conflict resolution ability is. It is a cross-section of a ‘Republic of Litigation’ trying to solve everything with hatred, violence, and legal lawsuits instead of dialogue and compromise. We hope to see a campus where flowers of dialogue bloom instead of red lacquer in 2026.
Suggestions for the Future
If the school, students, and our society do not learn a lesson from this incident, the tragedy will repeat. Institutionalization of communication channels, preparation of conflict management manuals, and above all, the establishment of a culture of mutual respect are urgent. We hope it becomes an investment for a better future as much as the expensive tuition paid.
Stains That Don’t Wash Away
Physical lacquer marks will be erased, but stains on the heart will not be easily erased. The Dongduk Women’s University incident will be recorded as an indelible wound in Korean university history, and at the same time, labor pains for growth. We all must watch how that wound heals.
