Professor Ma Kwang-soo Temporarily Retires From Teaching

Controversial professor of Korean literature at Yonsei University, Ma Kwang-soo, known for his sexually explicit novels, turned in his temporary leave-of-absense form to the university on September 7.

Ma is famous for his sexually-explicit novels including 'Happy Sara' and 'Let's Go to The Rose Motel,' for which he was sentenced to 8 months in prison. .

In the Professor Evaluation conference, the university's committee concluded in June that professor Ma had some 'crucial weakness in his academic ability,' and was not qualified to rehire.

Shocked, Ma forwarded a temporary leave-of-absense letter to the university on August 29, saying, "I feel like I've been betrayed by my colleagues with whom I've worked for more than 30 years. How could they do this to me?"

"We consider responsibility as the most important quality when we evaluate professors to decide whether we should rehire them. However, Ma has not demonstrated this quality," said Kim Chul, chairman of the Korean Literature Department at Yonsei University. "Turning in the retirement form just 2 days before starting the term is also very irresponsible. We are experiencing confusion scheduling classes due to his negligent behavior," added Kim.

by Woo Sang-kyun