By Lee Kyung-min
Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency has launched an investigation into Kyungpook National University Law School over allegations that influence-peddling and corruption were involved in its admissions process in 2013.
The probe followed a complaint filed by a civic group against the law school, Thursday, with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, which then asked for a police investigation.
It comes amid criticism that law schools, with high tuition, benefit only those who are wealthy and are heavyweights in the political and legal circles. They allegedly take advantage of their personal ties with law school professors in having their children admitted.
The complaint was based on allegations depicted in a book “Law School for Law School Professors” written by a professor at the school, Shin Pyung.
In the book, Shin wrote that one of his fellow professors, whose identity was withheld, visited a number of other professors’ offices there and asked them to admit the son of his friend, a prosecutor-turned-lawyer, at the end of 2013.
The professor and the lawyer studied together at the Judicial Training & Research Institute, at which those who passed the state-administered bar exam train before becoming judges, prosecutors or lawyers.
During the admissions interview, the interviewers asked the candidate whether his father was a former prosecutor, asking for his father’s name for verification. The son was admitted, according to the book.
Shin also said it is common for parents and acquaintances to seek professors’ influence ahead of law school admissions.
On one occasion, a lawyer firm told Shin that he would hire a handful of graduates from the school in exchange for granting admission to his son.
Shin said that applicants openly state their family background in their self-introduction essays, such as who their parents are, and whether they are judges, prosecutors, or lawyers.
Schools also like such applicants because they believe they will have deeper understanding of the legal system due to their backgrounds.
Police plan to question Shin and other school officials in charge of admissions about the allegations.
The school denied Shin’s claim.
School President Kim Moon-jae sent a letter to Shin last week, stating that the school will take punitive measures against him if he fails to provide evidence backing his claims by today. Kim asked Shin to give the name of the professor who sought other professors’ favor and that of his friend, and to prove that the son was admitted as a direct result of influence-peddling.
“We select interviewers 10 minutes before the interview to guarantee fairness. There cannot be any influence-peddling,” Kim said.
The school also criticized Shin for publishing the book with the sponsorship of the Seoul Bar Association, which wants to retain the state-bar administered exam that will be abolished in 2017. From that time, law schools will be the only avenue for a student to become a lawyer.