Bodyguards drag student out for protesting Yoon's commencement

A man identified as Shin Min-gi (right), a student graduating from KAIST, is seen being deterred by a presidential bodyguard after he protested the government's 2024 scientific research-related budget cut by 15 percent during President Yoon Suk Yeol's commencement speech at the university in Daejeon on Friday. (Yonhap)

A student was physically removed on Friday as he protested a research budget cut as President Yoon Suk Yeol delivered a speech at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology's commencement ceremony in Daejeon.

A clip of the student being carried out with his arms and legs lifted by bodyguards has gone viral in online communities. The video appeared to show some of the bodyguards were clad in graduation gowns.

The student, identified as Shin Min-gi, one of some 3,000 graduates that day, was transferred to police after being detained at the campus, according to the minor progressive Green Justice Party. Shin has worked as a spokesperson of the party's Daejeon branch since November.

Yoon's office said in a statement that a "commotion" had occurred, and presidential bodyguards "separated the protester from the venue for safety reasons." The action corresponded to related security regulations, the office said, without clarifying which clause it referred to.

The Green Justice Party, formerly known as the Justice Party and rebranded last month, said in a statement that Shin was "savagely dragged out" by presidential security. It added that some bodyguards were disguised as graduates "relived the moment" of Park Chung-hee's authoritarian regime in the 1970s.

The protest came two months after the controversial budget bill to cut state spending on national research and development by 15 percent was passed in December. The 2024 budget amounted to 26.5 trillion won ($19.8 billion).

The kerfuffle is reminiscent of another event just last month, when minor progressive lawmaker Rep. Kang Sung-hee was dragged out of a venue "for security reasons" as he "did not let go of the handshake with Yoon," according to the presidential office, when the president visited Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, to celebrate the region's official ascension to Jeonbuk State.