What is "hanchongryun"

Hanchongryun (Hankuk Daehak Chonghaksaenghoi Ryunhap), also known as the South Korean Federation of University Students Councils, is a pro- North Korea leftist student organization in South Korea. Hanchongryun supports a North Korean-led unification of Korea, and instigates Korean college students to overturn the Korean state system.

In particular, it condemns the continued presence of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), which it sees as a humiliating vestige of U.S. imperialism and advocates on behalf of Korean reunification. Hanchongryun is widely known for its effort to overturn the South Korean state system, mainly through demonstrations. It was criminalized under the National Security Act in 1999 for alleged pro-North Korean activities. The North Korea-based Pomchonghakryon considers the Hanchongryun as its southern headquarters.

Its main headquarters were Korea University ( Seoul) and Chonnam University ( Gwangju). It was organized in early 1993 as a realignment of the Jeondaehyop (전대협) student organization, a leftist student group that was formed by activists in the National Liberation faction (민족해방) of the South Korean student movement.