Controversy rises over Cho Kuk's help in son's exam
Former Dongyang University professor Chin Joong-kwon, left, and the head of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Rhyu Si-min / Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
Criticism is rising over former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's alleged helping of his son in the online school exams of a U.S. university.
The row has intensified after Rhyu Si-min, head of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and a liberal pundit, defended Cho by saying it was pathetic for the prosecution to indict Cho for “just letting the son know what he didn't know” in the “open-book test.”
When indicting Cho on multiple corruption charges last week, the prosecution said Cho, a Seoul National University professor, and his wife Chung Kyung-sim, a Dongyang University professor, interfered with the school affairs of George Washington University which their son attended.
In 2016, the son allegedly sent the questions from the online tests for a course called “Global Perspective on Democracy” to his parents via an online messenger app in November and December so they could solve them for him and send the answers back, resulting in the son receiving an A grade for the course.
Cho remained silent on the suspicion.
Instead, Rhyu said on his YouTube channel, Alileo, Tuesday, that the exams were “open-book tests” so Cho's son could refer to any materials he wanted.
“I don't know if they actually helped him with the open-book test or not, but the prosecution's indicting Cho for the suspicion is a strange,” Rhyu said.
Some internet users agreed with Rhyu.
“All mothers in Korea who help their children's academic and non-academic activities for college admission will now face indictment,” one wrote on portal site Daum.
However, many said Cho's help was inappropriate.
Chin Joong-kwon, a liberal commentator and former professor at Dongyang University, refuted Rhyu's logic.
“I used to give open-book tests as well, but no parents came to class to take the exam for their children. Exams are given to the students to test how hard they studied; it is not to test if they have smart parents,” Chin said on a debate show on JTBC on Wednesday.
“If we allow students' parents to take exams on behalf of their children in an open-book test, those who did not study but have smart parents will get better grades than those who studied hard but don't have smart parents. This goes against the current government's motto promising 'equal chances, fair procedures and just results.'”
A blogger also wrote, “Although it was an open-book test, the professor and the school wouldn't have expected three people would cooperate to solve the questions. Can I bring my parents to school on an open-book test day?”