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Selected Speeches

President's Office /

Selected Speeches

Congratulatory Speech at the 74th Winter Graduation Ceremony

First of all, I would like to express my sincere regret for not being able to hold a graduation ceremony today due to the unexpected situation concerning novel coronavirus. Although we cannot gather together, I offer my warmest congratulations to all of our esteemed graduates. I congratulate each of our undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students who have successfully completed their degrees at SNU and are now about to begin a new journey. I also congratulate and thank all parents, family members, faculty and staff, who have strived to help our graduates reach this milestone.

Class of 2020 Graduates of Seoul National University,

I am sure that over the past few years, you have accrued some memories and experiences you wish you could keep forever and others you would rather forget completely. You must have had moments in which you were either exhilarated, or distressed by your grades, moments during which you were in love and felt like you had the whole world in your palm and conversely, moments when you were drenched in futility, feeling that the world around you had collapsed. On some days, you must have been confident about your future, while on others, you must have felt so insecure that you could not picture yourself in ten years. Today, at least on this graduation day, I hope you can shake off all the painful memories and doubts about your future. I once again congratulate you each on your graduation from the very bottom of my heart.

About two weeks ago, director Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” won four Academy Awards. I am sure that many of you have seen the movie or heard about it. Reflecting on its success, I found it to be a germane topic for this year’s graduation speech. In particular, I have two main points that I would like to share with you.

The first is about “competition.” While everyone’s experience doubtless varies, I assume that you had to go through myriad competitions to enter the university and also during your time here as a student. You must have participated in the competition to be admitted to SNU, the competition to receive good grades in classes, the competition to register for courses that interested you, the competition to be selected as scholarship recipients, among countless others. You might even be thinking that on the threshold of life after graduation you are now entering yet another competition. You may feel like an athlete crouching at the staring line, ready to dart forward as soon as you hear the starting pistol.

I arrived at a particular thought while watching “Parasite” win its awards. The director and producer were honored with awards, but undeniably the main actor Song Kang-ho put on a breathtaking performance. Each of the supporting actors likewise displayed impressive dramatic skills. I hear that “Jessica song” went viral abroad. It also goes without saying that the editor and the director of photography made substantial contributions to completing the movie. And what of the translator whose subtitles made the film accessible around the world? It is hard to imagine “Parasite” without any one of these contributors. Rather than thinking about your future as a 100-meter race, I hope you can envision your future as partaking in a creative process like making a movie as amazing as “Parasite.” Our world is certainly not without competitions, but it becomes more powerful with cooperation than with competition, with harmony than with egotism. Would “Parasite” have been possible had there been only a race for first prize without either the cooperation or the synergy necessary to produce a truly high-quality work? I believe that if you dutifully find your role alongside others you will be able to live a joyful and meaningful life and make your own gemlike movie.

My second thought concerned the movie’s thematic message. “Parasite” had already gained attention even before winning the Academy Awards because it addresses the issues of the gap between the wealthy and the poor, class conflict and privilege. Our society has greatly advanced over the past few decades. Korea is now a developed country, which had been our dream for a long time. However, we now face serious concerns about the widening class gap. Particularly worrisome is that this gap is now in fact exacerbated by the education system, especially through university education. In the past, education functioned as a useful ladder upon which class ascension could be actualized; however, it is now being exploited as a means for maintaining, or even widening, the current gap between classes.

Frankly, SNU students receive many material and psychological benefits unavailable to students attending other universities or similarly aged young people who did not pursue higher education. And SNU students are eligible for these benefits for a certain period of time even after graduation. I hope you will play important roles in every corner of our society and achieve whatever you can to help yourself and our society. I also hope that you, as fortunate beneficiaries of our community, will become leaders with warm hearts who embrace the disadvantaged in our society and seek ways to coexist with them. These are my hopes because the benefits you have received must have stemmed from those who are not here with us at the moment, and some of the benefits have even come from these disadvantaged people.

Dear graduates, I once again congratulate you on your graduation. I would like to congratulate those of you who are graduating after fulfilling all the goals that you set upon entering the university. Perhaps, however, more students will be leaving our campus without properly having achieved all of their goals. Even so, there is no need to be disappointed. You will encounter more important, more exciting, and more surprising events in the future than you did when you were a student. I hope you will exit the university gate with these great expectations and memories in your hearts.

Once more, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to you all on your graduation.