Suspicion of Jeon Gwang-hoon's Diploma Forgery Detected: "Graduated in 6 Months? An Unusual Case"

Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, President of the Korea Christian Federation and General Representative of the National Struggle Headquarters for the Resignation of Moon Jae-in (Beomtu-bon), is speaking at the "National Rally for the Resignation of the Moon Jae-in Government" hosted by the National Struggle Headquarters for the Resignation of Moon Jae-in in front of the Kyobo Building in Seoul on the afternoon of the 4th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, chairman of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), has been accused of falsifying his academic background.

'Newsis' reported on the 3rd that there were signs of forgery in the final academic certificates Pastor Jeon submitted when he ran for the General Assembly president of the Presbyterian Church of Korea in 2014.

According to the media, Pastor Jeon claimed that his highest level of education was graduate school and that he graduated from the Graduate School of Theology at Anyang University in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province.

The graduation certificate submitted at the time stated that Pastor Jeon enrolled in the graduate school on August 30, 1999, completed the 'Pastoral Research' course, and graduated on February 15 of the following year.

However, the media pointed out several suspicious aspects that make it difficult to consider Pastor Jeon's transcript authentic, including △graduating from a two-year graduate program in just six months △the graduation date being in 2000 while grades for the following year were also recorded △and the fact that a certificate that did not meet the qualification requirements was submitted first and was protested against before submitting the current certificate.

In particular, the transcript shows that Pastor Jeon attended a total of five semesters at the graduate school, earning 20 credits each semester for a total of 100 credits. However, graduate programs typically consist of two semesters per year.

Regarding this, the media attempted to contact Pastor Jeon for his position but has not been able to reach him so far.

However, a representative of Pastor Jeon explained, "After the seminary officially became a theological college, graduates of the former seminary re-enrolled in the university and studied intensively for six months," clarifying that it was not a regular graduate theological degree.

As the controversy spread, some university and graduate students also expressed doubts. A 24-year-old university student A said, "I didn't know a graduate school graduation certificate could be issued through such a sloppy process," adding, "If high-ranking figures like professors, presidents, and pastors can easily falsify their academic backgrounds, it will undermine trust in society."

B, a 27-year-old currently pursuing a master's degree at graduate school, said, "Graduating from graduate school in six months is hard to imagine," and added, "I'm not an expert in the field, but I do doubt whether one can acquire specialized knowledge in such a short period."

An anonymous professor from a college of arts and culture said, "Completing a graduate program in six months is unusual," and added, "There may also be ethical issues."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.