Egyptian professor caught exploiting foreign students' pay

Chonbuk National University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province

By Ko Dong-hwan

An Egyptian professor at a Korean university stole his overseas students’ wages and threatened to get them deported unless they kept quiet, according to KBS.

The engineering professor from Chonbuk National University in North Jeolla Province, whose name was withheld, had lent money to the graduate school students and later received “a lot more” than the original amount in return, the state TV broadcaster said Wednesday.

The professor told the students, also from Egypt, that he would attempt to deport them and cause problems for them in getting their degrees if they spoke out.

The National Research Foundation of Korea found out about the case after the students filed a petition to investigate the professor. They complained the professor had not paid them.

The foundation audited the professor and found that from 2014 until last year he had managed the bank account for his research team and personally used research funds and students’ wages worth 27 million won ($23,500).

The professor said it was “his money” and he “received back the money he had kindly lent to them.”

In April, a professor from an Ulsan university was fired after the foundation caught him stealing the wages of 10 graduate school students from Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries.

The incidents are the first of their type in Korea. The suspects were referred to prosecutors.