Netizens Claim "10 Billion Won Is a Small Amount"
Dongduk Women's University Sues 21 Students
Police Identify 19 Individuals... Investigation Planned
Lacquer painted inside the campus of Dongduk Women's University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
As Dongduk Women's University filed a police complaint against students who occupied the main building in opposition to the transition to coeducation, netizens have voiced their opinions on the cost of restoring the school.
On the 1st, a post titled "My cousin went to get an estimate for Dongduk Women's University" was uploaded to an online community. The author, Mr. A, revealed that his cousin runs a special cleaning company and claimed, "Dongduk Women's University is a big project after a long time, so top companies from all over the country went there with smiles to provide estimates."
He continued, "Upon arrival, they found the scale of the 'hak-kku' (school decoration?a term likening the situation to painting lacquer inside the school) was larger than expected, so everyone was shocked and is currently forming a task force (TF) composed of cleaning and construction teams," adding, "As expected, due to the recent heavy snowfall, the exterior lacquer has soaked in and is almost impossible to remove, so the estimate is being prepared on the premise of replacement." He also explained, "Indoors, they are trying to preserve as much as possible, but replacing stone materials is cheaper, so they plan to replace those as well," and elaborated, "Many areas that could have been cleaned if left alone were smeared because they were scrubbed with acetone and steel wool, so many parts need to be replaced."
Lacquer painted within the campus of Dongduk Women's University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Mr. A said, "My cousin said, 'In 20 years in the industry, this is the first time I've seen a project with this much work,' and that the company that wins the contract will likely become the top player in the special cleaning industry." He also noted, "They didn't unify the lacquer and bought all kinds of oil-based lacquers available on the market to paint, so without any research, they will gain tremendous know-how from experimenting there," and predicted, "The original estimate of 5.4 billion KRW was based on the assumption that students would stop protesting on the day of the demonstration and cleaning would start the next day, but now 10 billion KRW is a modest figure."
Earlier, on the 25th of last month, Mr. B, who operates a special cleaning and high-pressure washing company, visited Dongduk Women's University to check the estimate for removing graffiti lacquer and said, "I was surprised by the wide area covered with graffiti and also surprised that it was indoors," adding, "The locations of the graffiti vary, and there are many types of lacquers with different compositions."
Meanwhile, at a regular press briefing on the 2nd, Kim Bong-sik, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated, "The complaint filed by Dongduk Women's University has reached 21 counts," and added, "Among these, some are unidentified, but 19 individuals have been identified. The complaints include charges of joint property damage, joint trespassing, joint refusal to vacate, and obstruction of business. Investigations will proceed sequentially."
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