By Chung Hyun-chae
Suspicions are snowballing that Ewha Womans University has offered preferential treatment to the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's aide, Choi Soon-sil.
Choi is the daughter of Park's late mentor Choi Tae-min and wife of Chung Yoon-hoi, a former close aide to the President. She was allegedly deeply involved in the establishment of the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation, which have become the center of an influence-peddling scandal.
The first suspicion is that Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, 19, who is a member of Korea's national dressage team, was given preference in university admission.
Ewha used to select student athletes in 11 sports, but for the 2015 school year, it expanded the number of sports to 23 and included dressage.
An official in charge of admissions allegedly told evaluators to select students who won medals in big competitions.
"The official said so because we wanted to select more international-class athletes," a university spokeswoman said.
Chung won a gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games. She was admitted to the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Studies in March 2015. But the remaining question is whether Chung's gold medal was reflected in the admission: she won the medal on Sept. 20, four days after the deadline for submitting admission applications to the university.
Based on documents submitted by the university, Rep. Kim Byung-uk of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) claimed Chung also received preferential treatment during her school days.
For example, she received a grade of B on an assignment she plagiarized from others and turned in after the deadline.
This was possible as the university set an internal regulation in September 2015 that students who perform well in athletic and artistic areas can receive at least grade B or above in other academic subjects.
Professors were also overly kind to her.
"Professors used honorific terms when communicating through email with Chung who did not even attend classes," Kim said.
While students who need to be absent from class should submit a necessary document if they want to ask professors to acknowledge their attendance, Chung did not do so.
Instead, Chung and her mother, Choi, visited a professor to ask for her attendance to be acknowledged.
As suspicions surrounding Chung grew, the professors' association of the university created an investigative committee Thursday, also sending an official letter to Ewha President Choi Kyung-hee requesting she disclose the truth of the matter.
"A lot of suspicions have tarnished Ewha's reputation as well as affronted professors and students," the association said in the statement.
Chung recently took a leave of absence from the university, according to the university. This was her second leave during four semesters.
Suspicions are snowballing that Ewha Womans University has offered preferential treatment to the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's aide, Choi Soon-sil.
Choi is the daughter of Park's late mentor Choi Tae-min and wife of Chung Yoon-hoi, a former close aide to the President. She was allegedly deeply involved in the establishment of the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation, which have become the center of an influence-peddling scandal.
The first suspicion is that Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, 19, who is a member of Korea's national dressage team, was given preference in university admission.
Ewha used to select student athletes in 11 sports, but for the 2015 school year, it expanded the number of sports to 23 and included dressage.
An official in charge of admissions allegedly told evaluators to select students who won medals in big competitions.
"The official said so because we wanted to select more international-class athletes," a university spokeswoman said.
Chung won a gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games. She was admitted to the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Studies in March 2015. But the remaining question is whether Chung's gold medal was reflected in the admission: she won the medal on Sept. 20, four days after the deadline for submitting admission applications to the university.
Based on documents submitted by the university, Rep. Kim Byung-uk of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) claimed Chung also received preferential treatment during her school days.
For example, she received a grade of B on an assignment she plagiarized from others and turned in after the deadline.
This was possible as the university set an internal regulation in September 2015 that students who perform well in athletic and artistic areas can receive at least grade B or above in other academic subjects.
Professors were also overly kind to her.
"Professors used honorific terms when communicating through email with Chung who did not even attend classes," Kim said.
While students who need to be absent from class should submit a necessary document if they want to ask professors to acknowledge their attendance, Chung did not do so.
Instead, Chung and her mother, Choi, visited a professor to ask for her attendance to be acknowledged.
As suspicions surrounding Chung grew, the professors' association of the university created an investigative committee Thursday, also sending an official letter to Ewha President Choi Kyung-hee requesting she disclose the truth of the matter.
"A lot of suspicions have tarnished Ewha's reputation as well as affronted professors and students," the association said in the statement.
Chung recently took a leave of absence from the university, according to the university. This was her second leave during four semesters.
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