Prosecutors Indict Seoul National University Professor Lee Byung-cheon Without Detention for 'Admission Fraud Involving Children'

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Professor Lee Byungcheon of Seoul National University, who is accused of admission fraud including falsely listing his son as a co-author on a paper during the university transfer process, has been indicted. Professor Lee also faces charges of research fund misuse and animal cruelty.

On the 6th, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced that Professor Lee was indicted without detention on charges including obstruction of official duties by deception, obstruction of business, fraud, and violation of the Animal Protection Act.

According to the prosecution, in January 2015, Professor Lee is accused of listing a paper falsely co-authored by his minor son in his son's academic plan and lobbying evaluators to secure his son's fraudulent transfer admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kangwon National University. Earlier, in 2013, he is also accused of knowingly taking part in the creation and grading of entrance exam questions for his nephew who applied to the graduate school of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University.

He was also charged with misuse of research funds. Investigations revealed that Professor Lee received 16 million KRW of research funds intended for foreign students and overcharged approximately 200 million KRW for experimental dog supply fees. Additionally, he is accused of violating the Animal Protection Act by using a dog named "May," born through somatic cell cloning technology, as an agricultural quarantine detection dog, and after retirement, bringing the dog to Seoul National University without approval for experiments. He is also charged with having an unqualified dog farm owner perform blood collection.

The prosecution also indicted three other university professors involved in his son's university transfer on the same day. Regarding the violation of the Animal Protection Act, six individuals including one member of Professor Lee's research lab and one dog farm owner were also indicted together.

Previously, on the 24th of last month, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for Professor Lee, but it was dismissed by the court.

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