8 parents indicted in foreign-school admission fraud case

Eight parents, including a TV celebrity, have been charged with securing admission for their children to foreigner-only schools in South Korea with the use of fraudulent documents, prosecutors said Friday.

The indictment comes after nearly 50 parents, mostly from the upper tier of society, were indicted last year on suspicion of illegally securing admission for their children to foreigner-only schools in Seoul despite failing to meet enrollment requirements.

Noticeably, TV actress Park Sang-ah, who is married to the second son of former President Chun Doo-hwan, is suspected of transferring her two children to a foreigner-only school based on forged proof of enrollment of an English immersion kindergarten with the help of an American employee at the school.

Under South Korean law, local students can be enrolled at international schools here only if one of their parents is a foreign national. Admission is also allowed if a parent and their child have resided overseas for at least three years, but this demographic should not exceed 30 percent of the school's total enrollment.

Prosecutors said Park's children did not attend the English immersion kindergarten and after the investigation was launched she allegedly transferred her children from the foreigner-only school to another school in an attempt to avoid prosecution.

Prosecutors said they have summarily indicted Park and another parent for the same charge, and indicted the 37-year-old American-national employee without physical detention.

The six other parents are accused of illegally putting their children in schools for children of foreign residents with fabricated passports and foreign citizenship papers that they bought from a foreign broker, they said.

Last November, 47 parents ― mostly lawyers, business executives, doctors and other professionals ― were indicted on same charges. They all received suspended prison terms by a district court here in February.

There are currently 51 international schools across the country and were originally established for non-Korean students living in the country.

The schools, however, have become a symbol of aristocracy for the upper class as the children who attend these hallowed halls learn English and can even attend American universities.

Meanwhile, former television news anchor Noh Hyun-jun who is suspected of the same charge, will be summoned for questioning as soon as she enters South Korea, they said.