Professor Seomin on Jo Guk's Daughter's Admission Cancellation: "She Has the Right to Be Prosecuted... Jo Was Discriminated Against"

Professor Seo Min from Dankook University College of Medicine posted his personal opinion on his blog regarding the decision to cancel the admission of the daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk to the Busan National University School of Medicine. Photo by Professor Seo's blog capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] Professor Seo Min, a faculty member at Dankook University College of Medicine and author of 'The Black Book of Cho Kuk,' claimed that "any citizen of our country has the right to be prosecuted, but Cho was discriminated against" regarding the decision to cancel the admission of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's daughter to the Busan National University Graduate School of Medicine.

On the 26th, Professor Seo stated on his blog, "The decision to cancel the admission of Cho, who is currently practicing as a doctor, to the Busan National University Graduate School of Medicine has been made," adding, "Although there are still procedures such as summoning her to hear her opinion, unless there are special circumstances, the cancellation will likely be finalized in three months."

Professor Seo said, "Unlike me, who raised a toast at the announcement moment, those who usually shouted 'We love Jeong Gyeongshim' are expressing anger, asking 'Why is Cho being treated so harshly?'" He continued, "There is some truth in that. Compared to others who committed similar acts as Cho's family, it is clear that she is being discriminated against."

He referred to a 2019 case involving a professor at Sungkyunkwan University who made graduate students write papers and then used them for his daughter’s admission to the dental school, saying, "That daughter only observed and did not participate in the experiments at all, so compared to Cho, who did not even observe, the nature of the offense can be considered worse." He added, "If she went as far as to observe, she might as well have just participated in the experiment. That professor even did this when his daughter was in high school to get her admitted to Korea University, which is a scene seen somewhere else as well."

He continued, "The Ministry of Education demanded the dismissal of that professor from Sungkyunkwan University, and the professor was dismissed in June 2019. The daughter, who benefited from the admission fraud, had her admission canceled. All this happened while the trial was ongoing." He added, "But why was Cho’s admission not canceled even though all documents were proven forged in the first trial of Professor Jeong? If her admission had been canceled earlier, she wouldn’t have needed to take the medical license exam, nor would she have had to work so hard as an intern now."

He pointed out, "The Ministry of Education and the university deprived her of the opportunity to prepare for a second life a little earlier."

On the 24th, Yeo Joon-sung, Policy Advisor to the Minister of Health and Welfare, mentioned on his Facebook, "This is the first time a case like Mr. Cho's has occurred, where admission to a medical graduate school was canceled after passing the medical licensing exam." / Photo by Advisor Yeo's Facebook capture

Professor Seo also mentioned former Minister of Health and Welfare Policy Advisor Yeo Joon-sung’s remarks shared by former Minister Cho Kuk, saying, "I feel the agony of a policy advisor worried about the country being divided due to Cho’s admission cancellation. Former Minister Cho, a social media genius, even shared this on his Facebook, which I interpret as an expression of active agreement with the Welfare Ministry’s policy as a former Minister of Justice."

Earlier, on the 24th, Advisor Yeo posted on his Facebook, "Last year, a current professor who fabricated fake credentials to get admitted to the medical school received a prison sentence in the second trial, but the medical school did not proceed with admission cancellation, and the person is still practicing as a doctor." He added, "Although there have been similar cases, there has never been a case where admission was canceled after passing the medical exam like in Cho’s case." Former Minister Cho shared this post.

Professor Seo wrote, "However, this case was different from Cho’s. The culprit was a professor at a university in Cheongju, who made his son, who did not participate in the research, a co-patent holder and had the graduate student present the experimental results under his son’s name at an academic conference."

He continued, "What makes Cho feel wronged is this: that son was already prosecuted for admission fraud and was sentenced in the first trial to six months in prison with a two-year probation and 240 hours of community service." He added, "If kind Cho knew this, she would definitely be frustrated. 'Why wasn’t I even prosecuted? I like volunteering too, I want to do 240 hours of service. Why? Why?'"

Professor Seo concluded, "From this, it is clear that our country is excessively discriminating against Cho. I hope appropriate measures will be taken in the future to ensure fairness with other seniors."

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