Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/08/23/200708230035.asp

The Korean Council for University Education plans to launch the nation's first academic credentials verification system amid a series of degree scandals involving renowned figures in the arts, broadcasting and education fields.
"Dispute is escalating over famous people faking their academic backgrounds, but solutions are not being provided at this point," said Kim Young-shik, secretary-general of the organization which consists of 201 public and private universities across the country.

"We're looking into establishing a verification center of academic backgrounds because we believe this will offer a clear solution to this disaster."

The organization expects to cooperate with government branches such as the Education Ministry and the Korea Research Foundation to discuss the specifics of building the center, he said.

A number of celebrities, professors and even religious leaders were found to have forged or lied about their academic degrees over the past month. Some made confessions, while others were caught by the schools at which they were employed.

Many education experts suggest such problems occur because the backgrounds of candidates are often not verified thoroughly in the hiring process. The government instructs those who receive foreign doctoral degrees to report to the state-run KRF within the first six months of their arrival in Korea, but new arrivals do not receive any administrative or financial restrictions even if they fail to do so, officials at the foundation said.

The foundation also continues to take any reports past the deadlines, the foundation official said.

The KCUE signed an agreement with German school officials last year to share any information that might verify the requested individual's academic background, and it is moving further to sign another agreement with Britain sometime this year, Kim said.

The organization also has plans to create such links with universities and university-related organizations in the nations most visited by Korean students: the United States, Australia and countries in the South East Asia region, he said.

"Currently, we are receiving a number of phone calls from foreign university officials, including Australia, Germany and England, that request us to verify the academic backgrounds of Korean students who are studying abroad in their nations," Kim said. "We may turn this into a business and issue a certain service charge since we expect a pretty high demand."

This week, it was discovered that actor Choi Su-jong and pop musician and song-writer Ju Young-hoon had both falsified their academic credentials.

Choi said he was a graduate of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, majoring in trade. Ju, until Tuesday, claimed to be a graduate of George Mason University in the United States.

Choi was accepted by HUFS but could not take classes there due to his family situation, his agency officials said. He then moved on to receive a degree from Morgan Community College in Colorado but dropped out after a year because his father died, officials said.

Ju, who purported to have majored in business at George Mason University, revised his academic credentials Tuesday, explaining that his brother, not he, was a graduate of George Mason. Ju admitted to being a drop-out of North Virginia Community College. Ju, who was the host of a radio program, quit his job Tuesday.

Last week, the nation's top stage actress Yoon Suk-hwa shocked the country by confessing that she had faked her academic background for the past 30 years. She begged for forgiveness, saying that the lie was a mistake she made when she was "young and naive."

A probe into fake degrees was prompted after the Shin Jeong-ah case, in which a former assistant professor at Dongguk University forged three degrees and plagiarized a thesis in order to gain employment at the university.

Dongguk University decided to check the academic credentials of all university professors by creating an ad hoc committee under the university president to perform such duties, university officials said.

By Cho Ji-hyun

([email protected])




2007.08.23

[shaunew]

About time they cracked down on the Koreans, they always point the finger at us. But now when the grass is cut the snakes will show. I believe many Koreans in high places will find themselves on the welfare line. Oops Korea does not have welfare, so maybe Seoul station.

[Billy Pilgrim]

I wonder why Real Reality didn't get to this first?

[shaunew]

Dongguk University decided to check the academic credentials of all university professors by creating an ad hoc committee under the university president to perform such duties, university officials said.

Just announced 50 professors at Dongguk have called in Sick and family emergence until the check is over.

[exit86]

This is great news. Hmmmmmm . . . .
I just got finished reading the recent thread about the Korean tendancy towards "dishonesty."
I'm laughing my butt off at all the P.C. dorks on that thread trying to justify dishonesty as a "cultural" matter.
This is Korean culture folks--right there in black and white in the Korean newspaper. This is Korean news.
Lotsa Korean folks--people who hold a very important status in this culture--have been lying.
Some of those folks got caught.
Korean culture, Korean government, Korean law, and the Korean
people have identified this behavior as being 100% wrong.
A lie is a lie, no matter where in the world you are.
I'm so happy to hear about this crackdown.

[faster]

Great news.

[Juregen]

Something similar is going on at KU.

[Summer Wine]

I will wait and see if anything really changes. I hope it does, but I won't hold my breath.

[HapKi]

Why is this being done at the national level?
Shouldn't every school's Personnel Dept. be in charge of this upon a professor's hiring?

[dogshed]

[dogshed]

[mindmetoo]

Maybe they can ask all professors to get their butts down to this center in the middle of winter in some remote location to get their degrees verified. They made us do it a couple years ago.

[wylies99]

I hope they are serious about this.

[cangel]

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Maybe now we won't have to leave the country or resubmit transcripts every year.