By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A foreign school has been allegedly used as a vehicle to channel funds to a lawmaker who has been accused of having used a foundation's funds and building for his own private interests.
According to former and current staff at Indianhead International School (IIS), in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, Rep. Kang Sung-jong of the opposition Democratic Party used an undisclosed amount of funds from the Shinheung College Foundation for his campaign for a seat in the National Assembly last year.
Kang is the chairman of the Shinheung Foundation, which was originally established by his father. Shinheung and IIS are separate entities, but the school is located on the Shinheung College Campus.
Some former and current foreign senior officials of IIS, who declined to be named, told The Korea Times that Kang misappropriated funds from Shinheung, disguising it as if the funds were going to the international school. The misappropriated money is estimated at about $1.5 million.
They said money to run the foreign school came from Shinheung, but the foundation drastically cut the flow of money during the three months leading up to the general election last April. They claim this shows that the lawmaker embezzled a large amount of funds.
``Shinheung College Foundation board members knew it was illegal to do what they were doing and voiced concerns about getting caught,'' an IIS school insider said. ``They also stated that if college students discovered money was being taken from the college, they would protest as their tuition fees have been steadily rising.''
As substantial proof of the illegal channeling of the funds from the foundation to the IIS, they said a brand new bus worth $100,000, which is owned by Shinheung, has been used by the school.
Transfer of money from Shinheung Foundation to the foreign school is illegal as the two institutes are independent entities. While, Rep. Kang is not a member of the foreign school, his three children are pupils there and his brother-in-law is the chairman.
Shinheung denies that Rep. Kang used school money for his election but admitted the college finances the foreign school, which is illegal.
``Due to rise of the dollar against the won, we supported the foreign school,'' said Lee Sung-man, the public relations officer of the college foundation.
Rep. Kang, who was also elected in the general elections in 2004, was jailed in 2004 for violating the Election Law.
Kang's brother-in-law, Park Jeong-jin and his brother, Myong-jin, run the foreign school.
Other teachers at the foreign school also accuse Kang of having committed irregularities.
``The school has a board of directors composed of Park Jeong-jin and his brother Myung-jin. However, the real board decisions are made by Rep. Kang who resides on the fifth floor of the high school building,'' an IIS teacher said.
Another teacher said, ``I know that Kang and his family live on the fifth floor of the high school building. I'm not sure if this is something common in Korea, but it is definitely unusual in the United States.''
Some other teachers said the school's mistreatment of its employees breaches the Labor Law.
They say the school has not paid a number of teachers their severance pay. And only paid 75 percent of what was owed to those who filed complaints with the authorities.
Moreover, they claimed that the IIS had unilaterally changed conditions of employment without consent. ``Several teachers were told one day that they had been rehired for the next school year only to be told that the decision had been cancelled,'' one said.
``One teacher has been told this four times in the last five months,'' a source said. ``At the current time, there are teachers at the school who have contacted lawyers to enforce their contracts.''
Enrollment of students at IIS is not transparent either. According to schoolteachers, a number of unqualified students attend the school.
They say more than 90 percent of the students are ethnic Koreans, but some are students who failed at Korean schools and were transferred, which is a violation of the Korean Education Law.
``Some of the students came directly from Korean public schools. I do not know how many, but I am sure this is illegal,'' a source said.
Regarding these allegations, IIS refused to comment. Licensed as a foreign school by Korean government in 1999, IIS has 152 students with 32 teachers as of March, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
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