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| Chongshin University students hang banners demanding President Kim Yeong-wu step down in March / Yonhap |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Stories of corrupt politicians are nothing new with cases rising each day from all parts of the globe, including here in Korea.
However, what people despise even more than dirty politicians is corrupt religious and academic leaders, who sell themselves respectively as servants of God and students.
But behind the scenes, they scavenge for every last drop of cash in their vicinity.
Those corrupted tend to use the funds not to spread their beliefs, but to move up the religious hierarchy through bribes and under-the-table deals.
Reverend Kim Yeong-wu, the president of Chongshin University, fits this description perfectly. Chongshin University is a well-known theological university in Seoul.
Kim has allegedly embezzled hundreds of thousands of won of the school's fund.
Just to name a few, he is accused of giving high-end presents to priests and elders of several key churches, which are unrelated to school affairs.
The total cost of gifts added up to roughly 45 million won taken from the university's reserves, which are supposed to be used to foster next-generation Christian leaders.
Since September 2016, Kim has been on trial for giving 20 million won to the head of the Presbyterian Church of Korea in exchange for being named its vice president.
The Ministry of Education estimates the total amount to be 280 million won ($262,000) over the years that was wrongfully taken from the institution's education budget.
Not only Kim, but even the institution's board is also seen as an accomplice to the act, for giving a blind eye toward his tainted values and greed.
Last September, Kim was booked without detention for dereliction of duty, but the board failed to take any disciplinary action.
Even worse, with mounting accusations of corruption, the board re-elected Kim as university president last December, without going through the proper nomination process.
The allegations against Kim have taken a toll on the university's image and its beliefs.
Since its establishment in 1901, the university's core values aimed to push the Presbyterian way of life.
Students of Chongshin University have been affected the most through this scandal that has plagued their campus, and simultaneously shut down their hopes to become aspiring religious leaders.
Another problem is the Ministry of Education's lack of inside knowledge of the candidates.
For private institutions, the nomination process is solely directed by the university board of directors. Once passed, the ministry goes through a simple background check of the individual.
Student protests started in late January, demanding Kim's resignation.
It seems only then the education ministry realized the severity of the problem.
After nearly three months of protests, the ministry decided to request prosecutors officially investigate Kim and 10 university board members for alleged dereliction of duty.
The Chongshin University incident just proves how easy it is for corruption to occur in universities nationwide.
Without radical, harsh preventive measures, it does not seem the country can drastically root out such corruption in the education sector anytime soon.
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