[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Four Yonsei University professors, including one accused of fraudulently admitting a specific applicant in the ice hockey category of the Yonsei University athletic special admission, were all acquitted in the appellate trial.
The Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeal Division 2 (Chief Judge Sangjun Boo) on the 9th acquitted Professor Lee (50) of the Department of Physical Education at Yonsei University and three other professors who were prosecuted for obstruction of business. In the first trial announced last January, Professor Lee was sentenced to two years in prison, and the other three professors were each sentenced to one year and six months in prison and were detained in court, but all were released at the end of April after their bail requests were granted.
The appellate court ruled that there was no evidence that the defendants conspired to commit admission fraud and therefore could not recognize the charges. The appellate court stated, "Considering various circumstances, there is considerable suspicion that the defendants agreed to select a specific applicant, as their judgments on applicants within the acceptance range largely coincided."
However, it added, "Simply because the evaluation results coincide, there is no evidence of when, where, or what content the conspiracy took place, or who was pre-designated as the successful applicant," and "Without clear evidence, it is not reasonable to view the defendants' evaluations as unfair," ruling that the criminal charges were not proven.
They are accused of participating as evaluators in the 2019 academic year Yonsei University Department of Physical Education athletic special admission selection process, pre-selecting successful applicants and awarding them scores corresponding to acceptance. The Ministry of Education conducted a special audit and referred the case to the prosecution for investigation.
The first trial court pointed out, "The defendants gave lower scores in other categories to applicants with objectively recognized better achievements than the pre-designated successful applicants, allowing the pre-designated applicants to fall within the acceptance range," and "The despair, helplessness, and anger of students and families who were unfairly evaluated and rejected are very great."
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