Younghoon crackdown by Seoul school office

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Younghoon crackdown by Seoul school office

Seoul’s education office said yesterday it withdrew its approval of nomination of board members for the Younghoon School Foundation, an elite institution mired in allegations of admissions fraud and embezzlement.

Yesterday’s move to cancel the nominations of board members and two internal auditors is seen as a punishment after a string of scandals involving the foundation and its schools.

In order to avoid a vacuum in the running of the foundation, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to select temporary directors by consulting with the private school’s dispute resolution committee under the Ministry of Education.

The prestigious Younghoon International Middle School allegedly tampered with the results of its 2013 admissions process in an attempt to offer preferential treatment to some applicants earlier this year.

A fraud case related to the admissions process, which began in May, resulted in 15 people being indicted, including Kim Ha-ju, president of the school foundation, and the middle school’s admissions director. They are charged with fraud and receiving bribes from parents of applicants to the school.

According to the charges, the administrators inflated or deflated applicants’ scores in the subjective sections of the admission process, which included essays and references from teachers.

Six parents were also charged for allegedly bribing admission officers.

The education office ordered Younghoon to drop the subjective section of next year’s entrance process.


BY PARK EUN-JEE [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]
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