19 teachers indicted for fake degrees

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19 teachers indicted for fake degrees

Published: 13 Sep. 2007, 22:40

When a 37-year-old social studies teacher at a cram school in Noryangjin, southwestern Seoul, was asked by his employer to submit his college diploma in January of last year, the man turned to the Internet, prosecutors said.
He replied to an advertisement on a popular Web portal site. In 10 days, he got three copies of diplomas that said he graduated in 1998 from the English department of Seoul National University. The certificates bore fake signature stamps of the university’s dean of academic affairs.
That man and 18 others were indicted yesterday without detention by prosecutors on charges of making or buying fake college certificates, the Seoul Central Public Prosecutors’ Office announced.
According to the prosecutors, the suspects ― all teachers at popular cram schools in Seoul ― either forged the certificates using Photoshop or bought fake certificates, paying 300,000 won ($322) to 2 million won.
One of them, a 31-year-old Korean language teacher, bought from an online broker a CD containing a document file for a certificate issued by Korea University’s Korean literature department in January 2004. The teacher was able to produce the certificates using his home printer and a fake stamp of the university’s dean of academic affairs, the prosecution said.
Some of the suspects, including the 47-year-old owner of a private math cram school in southern Seoul, are dropouts from top universities who changed the names and birthdates on their classmates’ genuine certificates, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution also indicted without detention 10 office workers who bought fake college certificates or Toeic scores for job applications or promotions.

By Jeong Hyo-sik JoongAng Ilbo [soejung@joongang.co.kr]