University chief hit by allegations

By Kim Bo-eun

Shim Hwa-jin, sungshin Women’s University president

Sungshin Women's University has launched an investigation into anonymous letters sent to faculty members in mid-October that claimed its president was involved in irregularities.

The school said Thursday that it found letters claiming President Shim Hwa-jin abused her authority in the process of changing personnel and misappropriated the school's funds.

The anonymous writer claimed 35 cases of wrongdoings by Shim, which include employing her students and husband's acquaintances, forging audit documents and forcing students to attend private events such as a party celebrating her husband’s promotion.

The 26-page letter titled "Petition to board members of Sungshin" said, "For President Shim, the university is hers, the faculty members are her servants, the school's money is pocket money, and the school's regulations are there to be ignored."

It also urged the president to step down immediately.

The controversy developed further when 17 current and former members of the academic board issued a joint statement criticizing Shim, citing allegations in the letters, in mid-November.

"We see it that most of the contents in the letter are either facts or based on facts. We cannot stand and watch the dire reality of this university," it said.

The school's foundation had four meetings since November to discuss the issue and hear an explanation from the president. It decided in its meeting on Dec. 11 to launch an investigation committee to probe into the case.

The school has been claiming that the letters had groundless information and said it will press charges against the writer.

On Thursday, the school sent out documents that informed its stance on the issue.

"We have confirmed through an internal investigation that the allegations were false claims," said an official at the school. "The education foundation has the ultimate authority in hiring staff, so the president cannot make arbitrary decisions in the hiring process."

The official said that the hiring of faculty and staff is strictly being conducted according to regulations and the forging of audit documents could not possibly have occurred at an institution holding responsibility.

"Even if the information in the letter is false, we plan to press charges against the writer as we believe there is a need to find out the reason behind the false claims,” the official said.

However there are also allegations that a former chairman of the board who had not been on good terms with Shim had been behind the case.