Seoul Court Affirms Jail for Prof Who Faked Yale Degree
South Korean court on Tuesday upheld an earlier ruling sentencing a former university professor to 18 months in jail for faking a Yale doctorate and embezzling museum funds.
The Seoul Western District Court said its appellate court affirmed its sentence against Shin Jeong-ah for using the fake degree to become an art history professor at a Seoul university and win financial sponsorship for a museum where she worked. The court handed down the first ruling in March.
Shin has seven days to appeal, according to court spokesman Kim Myung-su.
Seoul's Dongguk University also filed a suit against Yale in March seeking at least $50 million in damages, saying the American university wrongly confirmed that Shin earned a degree. Yale has called the matter an administrative error and apologized to Dongguk.
Shin made headlines last year when the fake degree scandal led to revelations that she had a romantic relationship with former presidential aide Byeon Yang-kyoon, who allegedly used his influence to help her get hired at Dongguk.
Byeon resigned as an aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun before being convicted of exercising his influence to provide state tax benefits to a Buddhist temple founded by a former Dongguk official who helped hire Shin as a professor.
In March, the district court handed Byeon a suspended one-year jail term and ordered him to conduct 160 hours of community service.
He appealed the verdict, but on Tuesday the appellate court ruled against him.
South Korean court on Tuesday upheld an earlier ruling sentencing a former university professor to 18 months in jail for faking a Yale doctorate and embezzling museum funds.
