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The nominee for Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea had to withdraw over allegations of misconduct during his term as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He favoured all his family members for prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States. He also faced allegations of improperly holding an additional position at a company irrelevant to his subject of study.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is investigating Seoul’s education superintendent for abusing his authority following the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea complaint against him. The official undermined transparency and fairness by ordering certain departments to advance the employment of five teachers who were dismissed between July and August in 2018. They had previously worked in his election camp in 2008.

In spite of ongoing accusations of academic fraud and financial crimes against his family, a former law professor was nominated as the new justice minister. His wife, also a professor, was accused of allegedly falsifying material that would have helped their daughter enter university and obtain scholarships. In a protest against the government, opposition leaders shave their heads.

The friend of South Korea’s former president who was impeached in March, was last week sentenced to three years in prison for soliciting university favours for her daughter. The Seoul Central District Court on Friday found her guilty of ‘obstruction of duty’ by exerting influence on Ewha Womans University to give undue favours to her 21-year-old daughter, using her ties with the former president. The president’s friend pleaded not guilty to the indictment, arguing that she never asked for special treatment for her daughter.

South Korea’s prestigious Ewha Womans University in Seoul – under the spotlight of investigations into a corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of the country’s former president faces renewed scrutiny. State prosecutors are seeking a seven-year jail term for the former president’s close friend for facilitating her daughter’s admission to the university and for having her high school academic grades altered. The daughter was last week extradited from Denmark to South Korea to face questioning related to her preferential admission as well as bribery allegations involving technology giant Samsung.

South Korea’s National Assembly last week focused on the role of the prestigious Ewha Womans University as part of its fourth round of hearings into an influence peddling scandal surrounding embattled South Korean President. Since early December the assembly has held four rounds of hearings, to gather evidence on whether the presidents close confidante used her friendship to influence policy and wrongly secure millions of dollars in funding for her foundations from South Korean conglomerates.