Chung-Ang University inspected over alleged unfair deal with Doosan

By Kim Jae-heun

The government is investigating whether Chung-Ang University allegedly conducted an unfair transaction with the owner of its foundation, Doosan Group.

According to the Ministry of Education, Monday, it dispatched three staffers early this month to investigate whether the university signed a private contract with an affiliate of the group for construction and renovation buildings on its campus.

“Last year we received a report that the university made an unfair contract with Doosan Group,” a ministry official said. “We requested the university submit related materials about the contract and then reviewed them. There were unclear parts and we sent our staffers to check them with university officials.”

The ministry said it would announce the result of the investigation after scrutinizing the information submitted by the university and secured by its inspectors.

The professors' council at Chung-Ang University argued that the school paid nearly 250 billion won ($221.6 million) to Doosan Engineering & Construction to construct new buildings on the campus between 2008 and 2015. Doosan Group acquired the university in 2008.

The incumbent chairman of the school board is Park Yong-hyun, a former chairman of Doosan Engineering & Construction. His son Park Tae-won is the vice chairman at the conglomerate's construction subsidiary. From 2008 to 2015, Park Yong-hyun's elder brother Park Yong-sung, who was the chairman of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, led the school foundation.

Many believe the Park family exercised their power in making deals between the school and the construction unit.

The council further claimed that while paying that much money to the company, the school paid off its debt it incurred building a hospital in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, with tuition fees that should have been used for improving student life.

Chung-Ang University has been denying the allegations. It also maintains the school did not use tuition fees to repay debt.

“The school account and the hospital account are separate. We cannot use school money for the hospital and we have not borrowed any money at the moment,” a university official said. “The school does not interfere with hospital affairs.”