Women’s Universities and Protests in the Face of the Coeducation Debate and Political Turmoil

This article traces the recent history of debates surrounding women’s universities and examines how student protests against the coeducation plan at Dongduk Women’s University intersected with the broader political unrest that followed the failed martial law attempt and the subsequent presidential impeachment movement. Drawing on in-class discussions among undergraduates at Ewha Womans University, I analyze how contemporary women students perceive their institutions. I also turn to Judith Butler’s theory of performative assembly to explore how bodies in protest articulate collective demands for justice. By reading the Dongduk protests alongside the large-scale candlelight vigils led by young women, this essay argues that such acts of assembly reveal how solidarity emerges through shared vulnerability, grief, and joy. In moments where mourning converges with celebration, and vulnerability becomes a basis for connection rather than isolation, the protests offer glimpses of collective hope that persist beyond crisis. Ultimately, the article reflects on how feminist politics in contemporary South Korea is being reshaped through sustained, embodied acts of dissent and the transformative force of being together.