[Exclusive] 'Gatgat' Moon Hyeonguk Also Expelled from University

'Gatgat' Mun Hyeonguk's University Decides Expulsion
If President's Approval Occurs, Re-enrollment Impossible and Dismissal Processed
Mun Originally Scheduled to Graduate Next Year... Currently Enrolled
School Requests Personal Statement from Detention Center... No Response
Expulsion Confirmation Procedure to Be Completed Within Days

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Song Seung-yoon, Lee Jung-yoon] Moon Hyung-wook (24), the creator of the 'Nth Room' on Telegram, the origin of the sexual exploitation chat rooms, has been expelled from the university he was attending.

Moon's university, the National Hankyung University, has decided to impose the highest level of disciplinary action, expulsion, on him, and only the final approval from the president remains. This is the second expulsion among major Nth Room suspects who are students, following Kang Hoon (19), aka 'Boo-tta', an accomplice of Jo Joo-bin (24), the operator of the 'Doctor's Room'.

According to a compilation of Asia Economy's coverage on the 5th, Hankyung University held a student disciplinary committee meeting on the afternoon of the 2nd to review disciplinary measures against Moon and reached a final decision to expel him. Once the president's approval is completed and the expulsion is finalized, the process will proceed to dismissal, which makes re-admission impossible.

Born in 1995, Moon was enrolled as a senior in a science and engineering department at the university. The department requires 170 credits for graduation, and Moon had earned 135 credits so far. Under normal circumstances, he could have graduated next year by completing the remaining credits and his graduation project exhibition. However, as the police investigation tightened near his graduation, he suddenly informed his academic advisor of his intention to take a leave of absence and cut off contact with the university. Nevertheless, he did not actually submit a leave of absence application, so he is still officially enrolled.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Moon applied for military leave on February 3, 2016, completed his service, and returned to school on February 28, 2018. Considering that he operated the Nth Room from September 2018 to January of this year, it is presumed that he ran the sexual exploitation chat room while attending school after his return. Since the offenses were committed during his enrollment, there are sufficient grounds for disciplinary action.

According to the university's regulations on student rewards and discipline, the school may impose disciplinary actions such as probation, indefinite suspension, or expulsion?the highest level?on students who commit acts warranting discipline. Grounds for discipline include damaging the school's reputation, threats, assault, sexual harassment, acts beyond student status, or causing social controversy.

Previously, Hankyung University sent a written request to the detention center where Moon is held, asking him to submit a statement by the 27th of last month, but no response was received. The university also requested investigation results from the police but was informed that such information could not be disclosed. Ultimately, after reviewing media reports related to Moon, the university reached this decision. Hankyung University plans to expel Moon after the president's final approval and will issue a disciplinary notice to him. A university official stated, "We are currently conducting legal reviews to ensure there are no issues in the disciplinary decision process."

Moon is currently detained and has been referred to the prosecution with charges including violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse. He is accused of producing and distributing sexual exploitation videos of multiple women, including minors, in the Telegram chat room Nth Room. Meanwhile, Kang Hoon, aka 'Boo-tta', who was attending Seoul National University of Science and Technology, was also recently expelled by his university(see our June 3 article '[Exclusive] Doctor's Room accomplice 'Boo-tta' Kang Hoon expelled from university'). With Moon's expulsion, further disciplinary actions against other student suspects involved in the Nth Room case are expected to follow.