In the 2nd semester of 2011, a KMU international student from Mongolia became accidently involved in a minor crime (case is not allowed to be published in detail due to student’s privacy rights) with fellow Korean students at department gathering. Soon after the crime was reported by a Korean student who claimed to be the victim at the police station, Mongolian student and the Korean student came to a negotiation and cops dropped the case. However, Kookmin University put its butt in the closed case and punished the suspect student without any excuse where university didn’t have any hard evidence that could prove it was the Mongolian students fault. Shortly, Mongolian student was expelled from the school.

 “In fact it wasn’t even a hundred percent his fault and he was probably even set up. Or it could’ve been a cultural difference; some foreigners think certain things are normal where Koreans think these same things are bad. At that time, the suspect student had nowhere to go for help to rectify the situation, and had to accept and receive the school authorities’ punishment without any word.” Says, Mongolian Students’ Union Head Assistant, Zorigtbaatar. N, “Just like this situation, there are many Mongolians and other foreign students who are helpless and need protection, academic advice and support.” he added.

There are currently 115 Mongolian students in the Korean Language Course; 57 students in the Bachelors Course, and 26 students in Master’s and Ph.D. Courses. It is a substantial enough number for students to start a union. Therefore, on 9 March this year, the Mongolian Students Union was officially established by senior Mongolian students at KMU.

According to “The Union Rule Book” of the newly formed Mongolian Students Union; the union consists of: The Union Head who makes major decisions, a Union Head Assistant, an Event Staff Group, and a Justice Group. The Event Staff Group is in charge of conducting and managing all the upcoming events for the union, and the Justice Group is in charge of managing the financial situation of the union and to examine and evaluate all the union’s activities.

Here, Kookmin Review had a detailed interview about the Union with the new Mongolian Student Union leaders.

What is the reason and purpose to create a Mongolian Students Union?

“In September 2009, when I first came to Kookmin University, there were just a few Mongolian students attending the university, but year by year, the number of Mongolian students has been increasing. Currently, as of the first semester of 2012, Kookmin University has almost 200 international students from Mongolia. First of all and most importantly, The Mongolian Students Union’s goal is to unite all of these 200 Mongolian students and to create a friendly environment. Another major purpose of this union is to protect the rights of these Mongolian students at the university, and finally, there is an incentive to give advice to them on living in Korea.” says MSU Head, Tsolmon.T, KMU Ph.D in Law candidate.

What are the promises from Union to its students?

“Since we have only recently started, we want to make plans semester by semester rather than forecast future activities. We are planning a lot of things for students which all aim to help Mongolian students’ lives at Kookmin University more knowledge-effective and interesting. For example, in this semester, there will be a sports event, academic seminars, and day trips to Korean historical places.” explains MSU Head Assistant, Zorigtbaatar. N, KMU MBA in Law student.

All new organizations have their obstacles, is your union facing any problems currently?

“Since we just started our union, we are facing a number of problems. The first is finding a suitable meeting facility for the union. We also have some financial issues, our first short-term plans will be carried out using our union member’s charity budget, but eventually we might have to reevaluate this financial situation. Other than those problems, we are starting off rather well and we have a rapidly growing number of members already. We hope our school will also advocate and contribute to our union for students.” explains MSU’s Event Staff Group member, Byambajargal. A, enrolled in a KMU Korean Language Course.(Interview was made in the student cafeteria on campus, due to Union facility difficulties.)

How can interested students contact this union to join it?

“Everybody is welcome to join the union, but due to the current facility problems, the best way to contact us is via our email addresses or cell phones. Through doing this, interested students can get more detailed information about our Mongolian Students Union”, notes MSU, Head Tsolmon.T.

T.Tsolmon 010-3940-8952 tts0323@yahoo.com
N.Zorigtbaatar 010-2867-8382 zorigoo2003@yahoo.com

Good luck to the new Mongolian Students’ Union from Kookmin Review and we hope that not only Mongolian students, but also all the other international students’ rights will be judged fairly and that they will enjoy a healthy study environment that is secured by KMU.

Монгол оюутнууддаа з вл лийнхээ йл ажиллагаанд идэвхтэй оролцохыг уриалж байна!

Javkhlantugs Byambaa (JV)(Reporter)

Mongolia@kookmin.ac.kr