This seems a bit overkill to put the guy in a prison jump suit, handcuff him and perp walk him in front of the media for having a teaching assistant take a test for a student:
Lyou Chul-gyun, center, better known by his penname Yi In-hwa, was arrested by the police on Jan. 1. He is one of several faculty members at Ewha Womans University who were systematically involved in the plot to help Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of the scandal-ridden Choi Soojn-sil, maintain her student status by granting academic favors. / Yonhap
4 years after he rose to literary stardom for his 1993 fiction “Eternal Empire” which sold over 1 million copies.
The then-27-year-old writer fascinated his readers with the well-investigated historical fiction about the murder of Joseon King Jeongjo (1752-1800), a conspiracy theory that had been passed down for centuries through the descendents of the Noron faction, one of the two dominant political factions of the Joseon era.
Owing to his early success, he was able to become a full-time faculty member at Ewha Womans University when he was 29 years old, even before completing his doctoral degree at Seoul National University’s Department of Korean Studies.
But the reason for Lyou’s recent reemergence into the public eye is something disgraceful. He is under fire for coercing his teaching assistant to take the final exam of his “Understanding Storytelling in Movies” course on behalf of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of the trouble-hit Choi Soon-sil. Chung never showed up for his class all semester and didn’t even take the final exam. But she earned a passing grade to maintain her status as a student, stirring suspicions of academic fraud.
Lyou, 51, reportedly threatened his reluctant assistant into helping, saying she would face the consequences if she rejected his call because she would be blacklisted and as a result would never be able to find a job in a university or research institution even after successfully defending her dissertation. He was arrested earlier this week.
Lyou is one of several faculty members at Ewha Womans University who were systematically involved in the plot to help Chung maintain her student status by granting academic favors, despite her substandard academic performance. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it appears that anyone even remotely related to the Choi Soon-sil influence peddling scandal can expect to get perp walked in a prison jump suit for the Korean media.
The real question I have which the Korean media so far has no interest in answering is, how prevalent in Korean universities is this special treatment for well connected students? I find it hard to believe that Chung Yoo-ra was the only person getting special treatment.
“How prevalent in Korean universities is this special treatment for well connected students?”
I don’t know. But as you said, Chung can’t be the only one. Assuming the authorities are interested in rooting out this problem – and not solely interested in it only for the sake of going after Choi – in exchange for leniency, people like this professor might be inclined to start singing about others receiving academic favors.
Having said that … it’s possible the authorities don’t want to open up that can of worms for fear of kids from influential families getting outed.
“How prevalent in Korean universities is this special treatment for well connected students?”
I don’t know. But as you said, Chung can’t be the only one. Assuming the authorities are interested in rooting out this problem – and not solely interested in it only for the sake of going after Choi – in exchange for leniency, people like this professor might be inclined to start singing about others receiving academic favors.
Having said that … it’s possible the authorities don’t want to open up that can of worms for fear of kids from influential families getting outed.