Last March, complaints were raised among students regarding a resident smoking indoors in a specific building of the POSTECH dormitories. The representative of the dormitory building stated that unannounced inspections of individual rooms could be conducted to resolve the issue. However, students raised concerns, pointing out that such inspections could infringe upon their right to privacy and housing. In response, the representative withdrew the statement and apologized.
Under current POSTECH dormitory regulations, the Housing Services can conduct occasional inspections of all dormitories during regular semesters, summer and winter sessions, as well as during vacation periods. However, the current rule does not specify the valid reasons for unannounced inspections, the exact procedures for entering a room, or the scope of the check. This means that, in principle, unannounced inspections of individual rooms can occur at any time.
In this regard, in 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) deemed clauses in the terms and conditions of major university dormitory operations to be unfair, specifically those allowing entry into private rooms without prior notice in the student’s absence. The KFTC ordered these terms to be corrected, stating, “A clause allowing entry into private rooms without prior notice excessively restricts the right to privacy. While inspections should be conducted in the student’s presence, any exception must have its reasons and procedures explicitly defined in the terms and conditions, and the student must be notified afterward about the inspection.”
Postechians’ stances were generally like those of KFTC. While most support addressing issues such as indoor smoking, few took the possibility of an unannounced inspection well. Also, students see the current dormitory regulations as “unclear,” as the causes and steps leading to an “inspection” are not defined. A master key to the dorms does not grant the authority to conduct random inspections.
However, Housing Services stated that unannounced inspections are not conducted. They reported that an inspector enters with a master key only when the student is not present during a regular inspection. Also, regular inspections are announced in advance through POSTECH emails, dormitory group chats, and bulletin boards. The main purposes of the inspections are to check for actual residency and fire-hazardous devices, and to prevent issues that might arise due to poor hygiene.
CHOI Ju-yeon, the president of the Dormitory Union, also claimed that “unannounced inspections do not occur except for rooms with no occupants.” Although there was an incident in which a student was required to leave the dormitories (24 Community Center) due to a residency violation being uncovered, the incident happened when someone entered to fix the laundry machine. CHOI stated, “We try to refrain from entering rooms unless there is a report, and we will only enter if the rule violation is severe and the room is identified.” CHOI also requested that students report rule violations to the Dormitory Union to ensure they are resolved quickly and prevented in the future.
The core issue is the ambiguity of the regulations and the lack of communication. While both Housing Services and the Dormitory Union state that privacy is maintained, the lack of clearly defined procedures leaves room for misunderstandings. Still, the problem is that the current constraints leave no effective means to resolve issues such as indoor smoking while protecting personal boundaries.
