Ministry of Education Audit Focuses Intense Fire on Kim Geon-hee

Ruling Party Claims "False Resume, Forgery of Private Documents, Obstruction of Business"
Yoo Eun-hye: "Will Review Legal Violations"
Controversy Over Kookmin University’s Purchase of Deutsche Motors Shares
No Resolution in Board Meeting Minutes, Suspected Legal Violations

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee (Photo by Yonhap News)

The beginning and end of the Ministry of Education's audit were focused on Kim Gun-hee, the wife of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. She faced intense scrutiny over false credentials submitted when applying for part-time lecturer and adjunct professor positions, as well as her holding of Deutsche Motors stocks through Kookmin University.

At the National Assembly Education Committee audit on the 21st, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye responded to Democratic Party lawmakers' accusations that Kim's false credentials constituted forgery of private documents and obstruction of business by saying, "We will verify the facts and see what actions are possible," and "We will review the law to determine if there was any legal violation."

According to materials received by Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook from the Ministry of Education, Kim listed Daedo Elementary School, Gwangnam Middle School, and Youngnak High School as part of her career history when applying as a part-time lecturer or adjunct professor at Hallym Sacred Heart University and Anyang University, in addition to Seoil University. Lawmaker Kwon stated that the Daedo Elementary School (practical instructor) experience could not be confirmed in records submitted to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and the claim that she worked as an art teacher at Youngnak High School was only verified as an art instructor at Youngnak Girls' Commercial High School (now Youngnak Medical Science High School). When submitting her experience as a part-time lecturer at Seoil University in 2004, she listed "Gwangnam Middle School," but this was actually student teaching experience.

Kim did not include these elementary, middle, and high school career details in the documents submitted when she was appointed as an adjunct professor at Kookmin University's Graduate School of Techno Design starting in 2014. Democratic Party lawmaker Do Jong-hwan suggested, "It is likely because she built her career at Seoil University and Hallym Sacred Heart University with false credentials, making it unnecessary at Kookmin University." On the other hand, People Power Party lawmaker Jung Kyung-hee said, "It is necessary to determine whether the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education properly verified and submitted her part-time lecturer work experience at those schools."

There were also allegations that Kookmin University violated the Private School Act by purchasing 240,000 shares of Deutsche Motors without board approval. Kookmin University bought stocks worth approximately 1.64 billion KRW over 10 transactions from April 18, 2019, to February 2, 2020. Deutsche Motors is a company suspected of stock price manipulation involving Kim. Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Dong-yong stated, "The minutes of the board meetings from 2018 to 2020 submitted by Kookmin University did not include any decisions related to the purchase of Deutsche Motors stocks," and argued, "School corporations must obtain board approval when disposing of or acquiring assets, so purchasing without approval violates the Private School Act."

When ruling party lawmakers requested a comprehensive audit of Kookmin University, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo replied, "It is necessary to verify the process of acquiring Deutsche Motors securities. We will comprehensively review audits and other measures."

During the audit, students from universities that failed the third cycle of the University Competency Evaluation appeared as witnesses and pointed out structural problems with the evaluation. Lee Da-young, president of the student council at Wideok University, said, "The higher the enrollment rate, the more support is received, but the competency evaluation is deepening the crisis for regional universities." Jeon Seung-hwan, president of the student council at Inha University, lamented, "Although the evaluation targets universities, the burden falls entirely on students. Students know best about curriculum operation indicators, and from our experience, there were no problems. The Ministry of Education did not even make an effort to listen to student opinions."

In response, Minister Yoo Eun-hye said, "Due to financial constraints, we had no choice but to adopt this evaluation method," and added, "As we conclude the third cycle evaluation, we will fundamentally reconsider whether to continue this method and prepare institutional improvement plans through a consultative body."

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