[Newsmaker] Banners supporting Hong Kong protesters pulled down at Yonsei campus

Pro-Hong Kong banners are seen at Yonsei University’s Sinchon campus in Seoul on Monday. (South Korean students of Yonsei University advocating for Hong Kong)

Pro-Hong Kong banners are seen at Yonsei University’s Sinchon campus in Seoul on Monday. (South Korean students of Yonsei University advocating for Hong Kong)

Banners hung up at a university campus in Seoul by students to show support for the Hong Kong protests have been taken down twice in as many weeks.A group of Yonsei University students -- who identified themselves as “South Korean students of Yonsei University advocating for Hong Kong” -- said Tuesday that four banners they put up on Monday around noon were removed less than two hours later. The banners bearing the slogans “Liberate Hong Kong” and “Free Hong Kong, revolution of our times” were put up in four places at Yonsei University’s Sinchon campus in Seoul.One of the students, who did not wish to reveal his name, said the group was currently checking the matter with the school.“The banners disappeared one by one starting at around 1:30 p.m. We are greatly angered that they were taken down in less than two hours,” the student said.This is the second time pro-Hong Kong banners have disappeared on the campus. On Oct. 25, the same banners were discovered to have been pulled down less than 24 hours after they were hung up at around 7 p.m. the previous day. The students said in a statement then that the school was not involved in the removal and that they believed a third party was behind it.According to a Yonsei University official, the school authorities were not aware of the banners and were not involved in their disappearance. The official explained that students are allowed to hang posters concerning school activities on campus without approval from the school. The school only regulates promotional materials, but may order the removal of other posters and banners if they are considered inappropriate.Meanwhile, in the previously released statement, the students had introduced themselves as Korean students who were joining forces to support Hong Kong citizens’ fight for democracy. The student contacted by The Korea Herald refused to disclose any further information about the group.By Choi Ji-won ( jwc@heraldcorp.com