Seoul National University Ranks First Among National Universities in Staff Mocking the Yoon Chang-ho Act

141 Cases of Drunk Driving Among National University Staff in the Past 5 Years, 36 Cases Since the Yoon Chang-ho Act

Assemblyman Seo Dong-yong: "University Awareness Is at Rock Bottom Compared to Society's Efforts to Eradicate Drunk Driving"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Since the enforcement of the strengthened drunk driving punishment law known as the ‘Yoon Chang-ho Act,’ it has been confirmed that 36 faculty members of national universities were caught for drunk driving.

On the 7th, Representative Seo Dong-yong (Democratic Party, Jeonnam Suncheon-si, Gwangyang-si, Gokseong-gun, Gurye-gun Eul) analyzed the status of crime investigation notifications for faculty members submitted by each national university and found that among 1,122 crime investigation notifications received from investigative agencies over the past five years, 141 cases, or 12.6%, were violations of the Road Traffic Act.

Most of these cases involved drunk driving, including refusal to take a breathalyzer test, aiding drunk driving, drunk and unlicensed driving, drunk and reckless driving, drunk driving causing injury, and driving under the influence of hangover.

By university, Seoul National University had the highest number with 18 cases, followed by Jeonbuk National University with 13 cases, Kyungpook National University and Gyeongsang National University with 11 cases each, Chungbuk National University and Korea National University of Education with 9 cases, and Kangwon National University and Jeju National University with 8 cases each.

Meanwhile, although the legal punishment standards for offenders who committed drunk driving have been strengthened, disciplinary measures within universities remain insufficient.

According to the current regulations on disciplinary standards for educational public officials, the lowest disciplinary action for drunk driving is a pay cut.

Additionally, for a first-time drunk driving offense with a blood alcohol concentration below 0.08%, suspension or pay cut may be applied, and for all other drunk driving offenses, the disciplinary standard requires suspension or higher, which means severe disciplinary action.

This is a strengthened disciplinary standard for public officials enacted after the Yoon Chang-ho Act, intended to impose stricter punishment standards on public officials and others who are held to higher moral standards, ensuring no leniency is shown for drunk driving offenses.

According to Representative Seo Dong-yong’s office, 83% of national university faculty members who committed drunk driving, totaling 117 people, received only light disciplinary actions such as pay cuts and reprimands.

Reprimands and warnings are measures even lower than the disciplinary standards set by law. So far, 16 individuals have received no disciplinary action at all.

In the case of Seoul National University, since its incorporation in 2011, it had no separate disciplinary regulations for faculty members and applied the Private School Act by analogy until it established the Seoul National University Faculty Disciplinary Regulations in 2019.

According to the analysis by the representative’s office, this standard itself is far inferior to the disciplinary decree for public officials applied to national university faculty members.

For a first-time drunk driving offense, public officials and national university faculty members are subject to demotion, suspension, or pay cut depending on blood alcohol concentration, but Seoul National University faculty members receive only pay cuts and reprimands regardless of this.

A reprimand is the lowest level of disciplinary action, equivalent to writing a statement of apology, and is practically not considered a disciplinary action. Furthermore, if a drunk driving incident causes a fatal accident, public officials face severe disciplinary actions such as dismissal or removal from office, whereas Seoul National University faculty members receive disciplinary actions ranging only from suspension to dismissal.

In fact, disciplinary actions taken by the school against Seoul National University faculty members who committed drunk driving were 4 pay cuts, 10 reprimands, and 4 warnings.

Representative Seo Dong-yong said, “Compared to the fierce efforts of our society to eradicate drunk driving by strengthening standards and punishments, the awareness among university members is at rock bottom,” adding, “It is problematic that disciplinary actions against drunk driving offenders in universities are limited to reprimands and warnings, which is a form of protecting their own members. Additionally, in some cases, faculty members do not properly disclose their status during drunk driving investigations, causing the school to find out belatedly and then impose disciplinary actions, so institutional measures such as voluntary reporting systems are also needed.”

He continued, “The most important thing is not to commit drunk driving, which is a murderous act,” emphasizing, “Universities with high rates of drunk driving detection should take responsible attitudes and pledge measures and self-purification efforts to completely eradicate drunk driving.”

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