By Lee Kyung-min
Ewha Womans University digital media studies professor Lyou Chul-gyun is facing arrest over his alleged role in attendance and grading irregularities involving his student Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the scandal-ridden confidant of President Park Geun-hye.
The independent counsel-led special prosecution team said Sunday it sought an arrest warrant for Lyou, who was placed under emergency detention on Saturday after 11 hours of questioning. The team unofficially summoned Lyou after securing statements from his teaching assistants involved in the irregularities.
“We asked the Seoul Central District Court to issue the warrant as Lyou is highly likely to destroy evidence and coordinate testimonies with related figures, if he is released from custody,” an official of the team investigating the influence-peddling scandal said.
Lyou, according to the investigation team, allegedly helped Chung pass his course,“Understanding storytelling in movies,” last year, although she failed to meet numerous academic requirements, as she was staying in Germany at the time.
Lyou did so by having one of his assistants take the final instead of Chung. He is suspected of having another assistant attend online classes on her behalf and giving Chung a bonus credit.
Lyou admitted to knowing Choi, the team said, but it declined to disclose further details about their relationship.
Two months ago, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into Lyou, at the request of the education ministry, after its audit uncovered his involvement in Chung’s irregularities.
On Dec. 29, the independent counsel-led team raided the university’s admissions office and homes of former university president Choi Kyung-hee and other key officials, and secured documents and records on student admissions and grading.
Lyou is first of many Ewha faculty members to face questioning soon over their suspected knowledge of or involvement in granting numerous special favors to Chung, the team added.
Lyou, whose pseudonym is Yi In-hwa, is a renowned writer, best known for his period piece “Eternal Empire,” published in 1993.
He came under fire for glorifying the military dictatorship of Park Chung-hee, the late father of Park Geun-hye, through a fictional character in his 1997 novel, “The Path of Human.”