A South Korean governing party lawmaker who had claimed to have received three dissertation awards from Harvard University has been found to have falsely stated one of them, a Seoul court said Sunday.
Rep. Hong Jung-wook of the Grand National Party was convicted of false statement of his Harvard records in election brochures in April and on his personal Internet blog, said the Seoul Northern District Court, according to Yonhap News.
The first-time lawmaker, a graduate of Harvard University and son of former film star Namkoong Won, was elected to the 299-seat National Assembly from a northern Seoul district in the April general elections.
Having graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of art degree in East Asian studies, Hong claimed that he had received three major awards from the university _ Best Dissertation Award in Social Science, Summan Cum Laude and Thomas Hobbes Award.
However, the 38-year old lawmaker was only on the list of the Honorable Mentions of the Thomas Hobbes Award, the court said.
"There is no mention at all in a Harvard dean's letter that he received the Hobbes Award, and the Harvard University clearly distinguishes the awardees of the Hobbes from the Honorable Mentions," the court said in the ruling.
Hong claimed in the court that the Honorable Mention is within the range of the actual awards.
The court fined Hong 800,000 won ($735), shy of 1 million won which can strip him of his Assembly seat.
Hong became a popular figure in South Korea, when he published in 1993 a book called "7th Act, 7th Chapter," telling how he got into the top U.S. university. The depiction of his life at a prominent U.S. prep school is known to have encouraged Korean students to flock to reputed dormitory schools in the U.S.