Harassment cases hit Korea University

By Nam Hyun-woo

A professor at Korea University has been accused of sexually molesting one of his students, the university said Sunday, the latest in a series of sexual harassment scandals to hit the school.

According to the university, the professor from the Health and Science Department, whose identity was withheld, harassed the female student during career counseling sessions in June.

The university reported the allegation to the school’s board and decided to hold a disciplinary committee to question the professor over his misconduct.

“Reacting strictly and firmly on any suspicions regarding sexual harassment cases is Korea University’s constant policy. The university will determine the level of punishment which will be imposed on the professor after a thorough investigation of the case,” a school official said.

“We regret recent cases in the university. We will do our best to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”

The university has been plagued with a string of sexual harassment cases recently.

The last one was reported on July 31, when police questioned a student of the university on suspicion of sexually harassing 19 female peer students for a period of two years. The student in question videotaped his victims’ body parts under their skirts and kept the footages in CDs, police said.

In May 2011, three medical school students of the university were expelled and convicted of sexually assaulting a female colleague.

Another professor of the school resigned last week after being grilled by police for allegedly filming under the skirts of women with a hidden camera in May this year.

Students of the university expressed concern that the dishonorable scandals done by its students and professors may tarnish the school and other students’ image.

“It is unfair that media coverage is focusing on the fact that the perpetrators are Korea University Students. It does not make sense to say ‘Korea University raised sex criminals, because they attended the school,’” a student (Ga***) of the university wrote on the school’s intranet community, Koreapas.net.

A student at the Chinese Language Department of the university, surnamed Lee, said it is shameful, but the school’s quick reaction and publicizing the cases was proper, despite being a difficult decision.