The evolution of student activism and its influence on tuition fees in South Korean universities

Abstract

This article briefly overviews the student movement working for political democratisation during the authoritarian governments in South Korea. The article focuses on how student activism has changed as a reflection of political developments from the dictatorship through to the civilian democratic governments. Further, it analyses how tuition-fee levels differ according to the organisational power of student unions within universities. The organisational power is represented by the student union's political orientation where strong political orientation implies that the student union holds stronger negotiation power in tuition-fee setting. The empirical analysis leads to in-depth discussions on student movements and tuition fees in Korea.