300 Sungkyunkwan Students Head to Cheonggye Plaza to Submit Petition on 'AI Education' to Superintendent

[Financial News]  
More than 300 Sungkyunkwan University students will march through central Seoul dressed as Joseon-era Confucian scholars and deliver a petition containing young people's proposals for education in the AI era to Geun-sik Chung, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. The event is a modern reenactment of yuso, through which Confucian scholars at Sungkyunkwan during the Joseon Dynasty submitted their views on social issues to the king.
Sungkyunkwan University said that Cheongrang, a student group focused on Confucian scholar culture, will hold the '2026 Yuso Culture Festival: Goha-nora' at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul at 6 p.m. on the 19th.
About 300 Sungkyunkwan University students will take part in the event, wearing danryeong, traditional blue robes worn by Confucian students. They will depart from Daeseongjeon, march through Daehangno and areas of Jongno District, and proceed to Cheonggye Plaza. A pungmul troupe will also perform as part of the procession.
'Goha-nora' is an event that reinterprets the yuso tradition of Sungkyunkwan Confucian scholars during the Joseon Dynasty, who directly submitted their views on national policies and social issues to the king.
This year's petition focuses on 'Education in the AI Era.' Sungkyunkwan University previously held a contest for young people's ideas on educating uniquely human capabilities in the AI era. A student selected through the contest as the lead petitioner, or 'Sodu,' will present the young participants' proposals for future education in the form of a petition.
The recipient of the petition is not the king, but the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. At 6:30 p.m. that day, Superintendent Geun-sik Chung will listen to the students' petition on a stage at Cheonggye Plaza and take part in a bidap ceremony responding to it. Bidap refers to a king's reply to a petition during the Joseon Dynasty.
The event will proceed in the following order: Daeuisa, a ceremony in which the Confucian students reaffirm their determination before setting out to submit the petition; Sohang, the street procession to deliver it; Soban, the formal presentation of the petition; and bidap, the response to it.
Performances will also be held at Cheonggye Plaza, including a group flash mob, Daedongakhoe's contemporary performances on traditional instruments, the Sungkyun Martial Arts Society, and the Seoul Talchum Troupe Union.
Han In-young, a student and head of Cheongrang who oversaw the event, said, "Yuso was the practical courage of young people in previous generations who sought to communicate their convictions to the world and create better change," adding, "I hope this old tradition will not remain merely a story in a museum, but will become a culture through which young people today raise their voices toward society."


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