More academic lies by celebrities

Social Affairs

More academic lies by celebrities

Published: 16 Aug. 2007, 22:22

Yoon Suk-hwa, Chung Kyung-soo

Yet another celebrity has confessed a long-hidden lie on a resume.
Yoon Suk-hwa, 51, one of the country’s most famous stage actresses, left for Hong Kong yesterday following the media frenzy about her recent confession.
On Tuesday, Yoon wrote on her personal Web site that she had lied about attending Ewha Womans University. Since her debut three decades ago, Yoon had told the media in interviews that she had studied for a year at Ewha, then dropped out to pursue a stage career.
“I humbly accept every consequence as a person who did something wrong. I will stay in Hong Kong for a while, where my husband and our two children live,” Yoon told reporters at Incheon International Airport yesterday.
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that it had confirmed on Monday that Yoon never attended Ewha, but the actress made her confesssion the next day.
Still, Yoon said she was nervous after the revelation that Kim Ock-rang, chief executive of the DongSoong Art Center, held bogus degrees.
She said she found the courage to confess after praying to God.
“I am not considering retiring as an actress, but if the public does not forgive me, I might lose my dream,” said Yoon.
Yoon has starred in numerous musicals and plays, including “West Side Story” and “Guys and Dolls.” She is a publisher of Auditorium, a monthly magazine on music and the performing arts.
In a separate case, Chung Kyung-soo, a former announcer of MBC’s prime time news, said yesterday he resigned in 1993 after a 24-year career at the broadcaster due to the discovery that his academic record was false.
Chung, 68, chairman of the Korean Cigarette Consumers Protection Association, had been considered a graduate of Korea University. But he only graduated high school and was never admitted to the university, Chung said in a telephone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo.
“I have never claimed that I graduated from the university. I did not write on my resume that my alma mater was Korea University,” Chung said.
“Chung served as a chairman of MBC’s Korea University alumni association,” said an official at the broadcaster who refused to be named.

By Kim Soe-jung Staff Writer/ Lee Yeo-young JoongAng Ilbo