Ministry of Education Finalizes Loss in Revoking Cho Won-tae, Hanjin Group Chairman's Inha University Bachelor's Degree

Inha University campus view.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Ministry of Education has ultimately lost an administrative lawsuit in which it ordered Inha University to revoke the bachelor's degree of Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group.

According to the legal community on the 19th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) recently dismissed the Minister of Education's appeal without review and confirmed the victory of the school corporation Jeongseok Inha Academy.

An appeal dismissal without review is a system under the Special Act on Appeal Procedures where the Supreme Court confirms the lower court's ruling without providing separate reasons if there is no significant legal violation or special circumstances in the original trial.

The Ministry of Education concluded in 1998 that Chairman Cho's transfer admission to Inha University was an irregular method but did not cancel the transfer admission. After re-investigating in 2018, it notified to cancel both Cho's transfer admission and graduation.

However, Jeongseok Inha Academy filed an administrative lawsuit, arguing that it was unfair for the Ministry of Education to issue different decisions on the same matter after 20 years.

The Ministry of Education claimed that despite Cho not meeting the qualifications for transfer admission to Inha University based on his completed credits or grades from a U.S. university, his transfer was accepted, and that Cho did not earn the credits required to obtain a bachelor's degree when he graduated from Inha University in 2003.

Both the first and second trials rejected the Ministry of Education's claims.

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