By Kim Bo-eun
The Seoul Central District Court handed Choi Soon-sil a three-year prison term in the first trial Friday over charges she made Ewha Womans University provide favors for her daughter in admissions and grading.
This was the first court ruling for Choi over the influence-peddling scandal, which removed her longtime friend former President Park Geun-hye from office in March.
Hearings are taking place for other cases including allegedly pressuring conglomerates for funds and receiving bribes from Samsung in return for granting it business favors.
Choi has been detained and indicted on charges of work disturbance for making the school’s faculty change rules to admit her daughter Chung Yoo-ra and give her passing grades despite her absence from school. The independent counsel team led by Park Young-soo had sought seven years for that charge.
Former Ewha President Choi Kyung-hee and former physical education dean Kim Kyung-sook were each handed two-year sentences. Former admissions chief Namkung Gon also received an 180-month term for his involvement.
Professors Lyou Chul-gyun and Lee In-sung both got one-year sentences suspended for two years.
“Evidence shows there was collusion over the unfair admission of Chung Yoo-ra, among her mother Choi and faculty members Choi, Namkung and Kim, as well as former Culture Vice Minister Kim Chong. We recognize Ewha’s ex-President Choi ordered Namkung to select Chung,” the court said.
The suspects “tore down people’s trust in universities and damaged the value of fairness which holds our society together,” it added.
“To regard Choi's deeds as stemming from her wish as a mother for the best for her child, she showed too many illicit acts, and her maternal love gone wrong made her daughter into an accomplice.”
Because the court recognized Choi and her daughter Chung’s collusion, this will likely affect the prosecution’s investigation of Chung, as well as future trials.
Choi and Kim are suspected to have ordered Namkung to select Chung. He allegedly told other faculty members to select the student wearing a gold medal in the interview, despite rules which did not allow interviewees to bring in personal belongings.
Chung, a dressage competitor, wore the gold medal she acquired in the Incheon Asian Games in 2014 a month ahead of the interview.
Even though she won the medal after the application deadline, the school reflected the medal in her evaluation. It granted Chung admission, over other candidates who had higher scores than her before the interview.
Other faculty members are suspected to have given Chung grades even though she missed classes and did not take tests.