2026 Kyung Hee’s Choice: Candidate Debate

Photo by Bae Min-ji, Lee Su-in, Lee Su-hwan | The University Life

On November 20, the 2026 Kyung Hee’s Choice: Candidate Debate for the 58th Seoul Campus General Student Association (GSA) Election was held in Cheongwoon Building B117. The program featured pledge presentations, a debate between candidates, and a press and audience Q&A session. As the first competitive GSA election in three years, the debate showcased intense exchanges between the two camps—KHU:EST and KnowHow.

Pledge Presentations: Two Election Headquarters Lay Out Competing Agendas

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KHU:EST’s presidential candidate Jeong Jong-won and vice-presidential candidate Son Ye-ji introduced their five key pledge areas: education, facilities, community exchange, housing, and student rights. Their platform includes the introduction of absolute grading for general education courses, converting the Grand Stadium to artificial turf, revitalizing TROIKA, expanding housing scholarships, and strengthening student rights such as attendance recognition for reserve forces and regularizing the Tuition Deliberation Committee.

KHU:EST stated that their pledges aim to address unresolved issues that previous GSAs failed to carry out, adding, “We want to ensure that the major initiatives emphasized in student self-governance continue without being lost.”

KnowHow’s presidential candidate Kong Seon-jin and vice-presidential candidate Sung Ji-chang

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KnowHow’s presidential candidate Kong Seon-jin and vice-presidential candidate Sung Ji-chang also presented five categories—grades, housing, careers, festivals, and student self-governance. Their pledges include the Grade Eraser System, the 10,000-won monthly rent Youth Housing Initiative, expanded mock test offerings, pre-distribution of festival entry stamps, and mandatory student self-governance training for all student association leaders.

KnowHow emphasized the need to reconsider what the GSA should do, stating, “KnowHow will be a GSA that focuses on students’ daily challenges and creates real, tangible change.”

Candidate Debate: KHU:EST Challenges KnowHow on Feasibility and Accuracy

Throughout the debate, KHU:EST mainly questioned the accuracy and feasibility of KnowHow’s pledges, while KnowHow criticized KHU:EST for lacking originality and inheriting past GSAs’ agendas.

KHU:EST questioned the Grade Eraser System, asking whether KnowHow truly received a “positive response” from the Office of Academic Affairs and whether the discussion was instead held with the Department of Academic Supporting Affairs. KnowHow clarified that they held an official meeting with the department under the Office of Academic Affairs, adding that while the office was cautious in its wording due to the competitive election, they indicated the pledge was “open for review.”

After the debate, KnowHow posted a public apology acknowledging that their wording—“positive response”—may have caused misunderstanding.

However, the Central Election Commission issued KnowHow a public warning, stating that using such wording despite the Office of Academic Affairs’ request for neutral phrasing constituted “misleading voters.”

KHU:EST further pointed out factual errors in KnowHow’s policy booklets, including an error in the ranking of local rent increases and incorrect figures related to disciplinary cases in the student self-governance training pledge. They argued that “providing inaccurate information raises concerns about misleading students.”

KnowHow admitted to insufficient review of statistical data but maintained that “the core issue we aimed to raise remains unchanged.”

Candidate Debate: KnowHow criticizes KHU:EST for lacking originality and inheriting past GSAs

KnowHow questioned whether KHU:EST’s platform simply continues the priorities of past GSAs such as KnocKH and KHUBE, pointing out that key KHU:EST pledges—including absolute grading for general education and the Grand Stadium turf project—were previously proposed but never implemented. They also asked Jeong Jong-won to explain what he accomplished as KnocKH’s Central Executive Committee Director and why certain initiatives had failed.

KHU:EST responded that prior failures were due to contextual limitations—including the COVID-19 pandemic—and emphasized that their experience in KnocKH allowed them to better understand structural issues and plan improvements. They added that internal GSA operations significantly improved through continuous self-evaluation.

KnowHow also raised concerns regarding KHU:EST’s pledge to expand the TROIKA program, noting the lack of concrete measures to address shortcomings in this year’s festivals.

In response, KHU:EST acknowledged that the spring festival had shortcomings due to the by-election timeline but claimed that subsequent feedback allowed them to carry out the fall festival more effectively. They added that their vision of TROIKA is a structured program integrating cultural performances, athletics, and academic exchange, and stated that preliminary verbal agreements had already been made with the heads of each Central Club Association and the director of the Dongdaemun-gu Youth Center.

Regarding the feasibility of converting the Grand Stadium to artificial turf, KHU:EST said that cooperation between Dongdaemun-gu Office and the University’s foundation would be key. They acknowledged concerns about parking shortages but emphasized that long-standing student demand offers sufficient rationale to push the project forward.

Press Q&A: KnowHow

Press Q&A Session

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Press outlets V.O.U., Daehak Jubo, and The University Life participated in the Q&A session.

To a question about the absence of pledges addressing Seoul and Global Campus coordination, KnowHow explained, “Academic policies are not issues that Seoul Campus can address alone, and we recognize the need for close cooperation with the Global Campus in these areas. We believed that meaningful discussion on academic matters should come first, and once that foundation is established, additional needs can be developed together. That is why we did not include a separate pledge on campus communication.”

On measures to address post-conflict situations between student bodies, referencing this year’s dispute between the Student Minority Rights Committee and the College of Politics & Economics, the press asked what mechanisms KnowHow would introduce to resolve such conflicts once they occur. KnowHow answered that they plan to strengthen the Expanded Steering Committee, emphasizing that increasing the accountability of student representatives in areas such as finance would help prevent similar conflicts in the future.

Regarding the 10,000-won monthly rent Youth Housing Initiative, candidates were asked whether the plan had been discussed with other universities in Dongdaemun-gu and whether they intended to secure a budget by operating a separate entity, like the case of Dongjak-gu.

KnowHow responded that the first step would be establishing an official communication channel between the GSA and Dongdaemun-gu, followed by collecting student feedback through surveys. They added that, similar to the approach used in Dongjak-gu, they plan to ask a public institution under Dongdaemun-gu to provide the funding. They said that practical steps—such as securing land—would take place only after these first stages are completed.

On tuition increases, KnowHow stated they would prioritize transparency in how increased tuition revenue is used, adding, “The GSA’s role is to convey students’ concerns and ensure tuition rises only when justified.”

Press Q&A: KHU:EST

On absolute grading, KHU:EST explained that previous attempts to implement absolute grading failed due to disagreements between the Seoul and Global Campus Humanitas Colleges. They noted that the University president and both campuses’ Humanitas Colleges are now reviewing the plan positively and that their team has strong communication ties with relevant committees.

On the competency grading system, they clarified that it aims to identify students’ areas of specialization rather than assign grades, emphasizing the need to ensure qualitative evaluations do not disadvantage students.

On proposing online general education courses during seasonal semesters amid cheating concerns, KHU:EST said the spatial barriers of seasonal courses were a more pressing issue. “Cheating is wrong; online courses are not. With proper safeguards, the system can function well.”

Addressing criticism that their international student-related pledges focus only on strengthening existing programs, KHU:EST emphasized that the International Students’ Association had long been an emergency response committee, so the focus was on rebuilding cooperation and improving existing programs.

On regularizing the Tuition Deliberation Committee, KHU:EST stated that they are prepared to firmly oppose tuition increases if students view them as unjustified: “We are ready to respond strongly to the University administration when necessary.”

Students reading leaflets introducing the candidates

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As the debate ended, both sides said they want to show real results, not just make promises in their final remark. KHU:EST concluded, “We will not avoid problems. We will show results, not words, and take responsibility for the choice students make.” KnowHow stated, “We will prove our commitment through action, not rhetoric, and create changes that students can truly feel.”

Voting will be held from November 24 to November 26. With a competitive election returning after several years, the result will show which direction students want the GSA to take.