By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Dongguk University, one of Korea's main private schools, strongly criticized Yale University for not being fair with its use of the media in a $50 million legal battle.

The legal battle is over a defamation suit brought by the Korean school against the Ivy League school over the latter's mistake in identifying Shin Jeong-ah as one of its Ph.D. holders. Shin used a fake certificate to get a job at Dongguk.

Han Jin-soo, vice president of the Buddhist school in Seoul, said Yale, seriously damaged the reputation of the university in 2007, and is continuing to make "regrettable" remarks about the case.

"We have concluded that our silence could negatively influence our suit," Han said Monday during a press conference at the university's Seoul campus.

The vice president, who is responsible for the lawsuit, expressed regret over Yale's statement, released on Oct. 13, which says Dongguk made an unnecessary suit and it expects to win the legal battle, along with a recent article in the New York Times. Tom Conroy, a Yale spokesman, told the paper there was no negligence or recklessness on the part of Yale and if the case goes to trial, the jury will certainly consider the fact that the chairman of Dongguk's board was convicted of soliciting and receiving an illegal government subsidy from Shin's lover, who at the time was an adviser to the Korean president.

"We suspect Yale has an ulterior purpose of jockeying for a better position ahead of the trial by taking issue over the special government subsidy," Han said. He added that Yale should respect basic ethics when talking to the media and remember that mentioning special government subsidies was a dishonorable act, which defamed the university.

Dongguk sued Yale for $50 million in March, last year, alleging its mistaken validation of the fabricated Ph.D. degree held by Shin Jeong-ah, who was a Dongguk art history professor at the time, damaged Dongguk's reputation.

Yale requested the court to reject the case in June, but that was dismissed.

The two universities are now in the pre-trial discovery session and deposition is scheduled from early December until the end of the month. Afterwards, a pre-trial conference will be held and if the universities fail to make settlement during the conference, summary judgment will commence.

In the meantime, Dongguk recently amended its complaint with the Connecticut District court in New York with its new findings. Dongguk says it has found new evidence of not only Yale's negligence, but "reckless disregard" by the university.

According to the amended complaint, Yale's internal e-mails and letters show that its officials did not verify the September 2005 letters until a federal subpoena forced them to examine their records. After finding the mistake, Yale officials waited 11 days before notifying the U.S. Department of Justice, six weeks before notifying Dongguk University and 10 weeks before informing the public.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr