Rhyu Si-min fled, fearing Chun Doo-hwan

On May 12, 1980, at the Seoul National University Student Center, a resolution to hold a sit-in against Chun Doo-hwan's new military junta was overturned within just a few hours. A senior in his department tried to prevent the dispersal. Rhyu Si-min, then chairman of the General Representative Council, told that senior, "Please preserve your life," and left. The person who witnessed this scene firsthand is Lee Sun-geun, former head of the Economic Democratization Movement Headquarters of the Democratic Labor Party. Lee is a senior in the Class of '74 in the Department of Economics at Seoul National University and a victim of the 1981 Hakrim Incident. Lee provided specific testimony regarding the situation during a phone call with reporters.
The Student Center dispersed in tears at the news of the military arriving
According to Lee, the Seoul National University General Student Council had resolved that all students would participate in a sit-in at the Student Center that day. It was a protest against Chun Doo-hwan. However, a decision to disperse was made just a few hours after the resolution. At the time, the President of the General Student Council was Shim Jae-cheol, and the Chairman of the General Representative Council was Rhyu Si-min.
Lee was on his way back to the school to join the sit-in after attending an outside appointment. Students were running outside in tears. When he caught them to ask why, the answer was that they had decided to disperse because it seemed the military was going to enter. When he went to the Student Center, Chairman Rhyu Si-min was coming down the stairs. Lee remembers his expression as "a very proud face, a rewarding face."
Lee told him that they must not disperse and suggested that even if it were just the two of them, they should stay and hold the sit-in. He even said that dispersing would leave a great stain on history. Rhyu's response was short: "Please preserve your life." He then reportedly left just like that. Chairman Rhyu has not explained the reason for the dispersal resolution then, nor since.
Lee believed at the time that Chun Doo-hwan had already carried out two coups. His judgment was that the only way to prevent him from taking power was a long-term sit-in by the students. However, when he returned to the school the next day, the military had not entered. Lee said that they had fled in panic due to misinformation spread by the Defense Security Command.
The next morning, demands erupted among the students for the General Student Council leadership to step down. Lee recalled that figures such as former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stepped in to protect the General Student Council. Once the demands for resignation subsided, the students headed out to Seoul Station again. Three days later, on May 15, the students gathered at Seoul Station decided to disperse.
Rhyu has explained that he opposed the retreat from Seoul Station at the time. Lee called this part "a lie." He stated, "It was the same on May 12 and the same on May 15," claiming the leadership lacked the will to fight. He also mentioned that there was a mindset of "my life comes first" among the Seoul National University student movement leadership at the time. He said that if the students had stood their ground until the end, "such a tragedy would not have happened in Gwangju."
Five days later, on the night of May 17, Rhyu was taken away from the Student Center and held without a warrant for nearly two months. Reporters asked Rhyu via KakaoTalk whether he remembers Lee and if the "preserve your life" remark is true. Rhyu read the messages but did not reply. A follow-up question asking if he still believes that decision was right was also read later, but there was no response.