Education ministry seeks dismissal of Chongshin University president

Scores of Chongshin University students gather at the institution's general pavilion demanding the resignation of Kim Yeong-wu on March 18. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Ministry of Education has demanded the dismissal of Chongshin University's president, Reverend Kim Yeong-wu, who allegedly embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars of the school's funds.

Chongshin University is a well-known theological university in Seoul.

After conducting a survey, the ministry said Sunday Kim wrongfully used the university's finances.

Kim used the institution's revenue from education, which mostly consists of student tuition, to pay for lawsuit costs unrelated to the university.

This accumulated to around 23 million won.

Since September 2016, Kim has been on trial for giving 20 million won to the head of the Presbyterian Church of Korea in exchange for being named to a vice president position.

He is also accused of giving high-end presents to priests and elders of several key churches, who are also unrelated to school affairs.

The total cost of presents added up to roughly 45 million won, which was also taken from the university's funds.

The ministry submitted a request to the university to impose severe disciplinary action against the people involved and recover around 280 million won ($262,000) that was taken out of the institution's education budget.

Last September, Kim was booked without detention for dereliction of duty, but did not report to the university's board of directors. The board failed to take any disciplinary action.

Kim is also accused of single handedly selecting two university special holidays last month without holding a meeting of academic affairs, according to the ministry.

Even with the numerous accusations of wrongdoing, the board re-elected Kim as university president last December without going through the proper nomination process.

The education ministry said it has decided to cancel the appointments of the institution's 18 board members including the director.

Students have been protesting at the university's general pavilion since late January demanding the resignation of Kim Yeong-wu as university president.

However, the board hired contract workers to suppress the student protests and broke through windows of the general pavilion to enter the building.

In the process, clashes have occurred between the students and the contract workers.

Chongshin University is also accused of unfairly hiring three professors without abiding by the institution's regulations.

The ministry plans to request prosecutors begin an official investigation of Kim and 10 university board members for their alleged dereliction of duty.