By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

A Seoul National University (SNU) professor was suspended from teaching for three months for sexually harassing a female student.

The professor, whose name was not disclosed, went to movies with his students on weekends and discussed them as a part of his course during the first semester, according to the school Friday.

But when some female students did not come to see the movies, the professor called them to demand they join the weekend movie viewing. He called one of the girls several times, asking her why she did not come and whether she could come the next weekend.

As his continuous calls made her uncomfortable, her parents mentioned this to an assistant instructor and to the school's center for sexual assault prevention.

The center examined the case and confirmed that several more female students had similar experiences. Acknowledging his behavior as sexual harassment, the center reported it to the school authorities, which opened a disciplinary committee in August and slapped him with a three-month job suspension.

The professor denied the accusation in the committee meeting, claiming he did so for his lecture and did not think it constituted sexual harassment. He asked the school to review the decision, claiming it unfair to receive such heavy punishment even though he did not harass them sexually, according to the SNU.

``Watching movies with students on weekends may have come from good intentions, as a part of education. But as a female student, she may have felt uncomfortable with that,'' a school official said.

The professor at the humanities college was unavailable for comment.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr