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Mother fined 8 million won for faking rural address to get daughter into college

Published: 25 Jun. 2025, 19:30

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A high school administrative worker who faked a change of residence so that her daughter could qualify for a college admissions program for rural students received a heavier sentence on appeal.

On Wednesday, the Changwon District Court overturned a lower-court ruling that had suspended a 1 million won fine ($730) and instead imposed a fine of 8 million won on the defendant, a woman in her 50s, for obstruction of justice through fraudulent means.

In January 2015, the woman reported that she, her husband and their daughter had moved to a residence in Samnangjin-eup, Miryang, South Gyeongsang. But in fact, they never lived there: The family maintained their actual residence in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, until March 2021 while keeping their legal address in Miryang.

At the time, the daughter had yet to enter middle school. The mother exploited the fact that her daughter’s friend’s parents lived in Miryang and used their address to falsely report a move. The goal was to eventually apply to college under a special admissions track for students from rural or remote areas.

To qualify for this admissions track, applicants must complete six years of education — both middle and high school — in a rural area, and both the applicant and their parents must reside in that area continuously. The defendant conspired with her daughter to apply through the rural student track at a national university, and the daughter was ultimately admitted.

The Changwon District Court [YONHAP]

During the trial, the woman claimed she had actually lived at the Miryang address, but the court rejected the claim, noting there were either no or unusually low payments of utility bills, such as those on electricity and water. For example, water usage at the address ranged from 2 to 10 tons per month — far below the average 30 tons per month used by a four-person household.

In the first trial, the court considered the fact that the daughter had withdrawn from school after the issue came to light and that the woman, as an education worker, risked losing her job if she received a sentence heavier than a suspended fine. The court issued a suspended fine of 1 million won — a verdict that nullifies the penalty after a set period if no further offenses occur.

However, the appeals court found fault with the woman’s attitude. The court pointed out that she'd only admitted to the fabricated move after it was confirmed she had in fact lived in Gimhae and continued to deny involvement in the college application process.

“The rural student admissions track is designed to offer equal opportunities to students in underprivileged educational environments,” the court said. “By exploiting this system, she likely denied an actual student from a rural area a spot. Her continued denials and the gravity of the offense were considered in determining the sentence.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]],DD