Rep. Kang Min-jung Points Out
Scholarship Application Form Includes Section for Family Names
Professor Accused of Sexual Harassment Against Candidate Kim
Petition Contains Language Blaming the Victim
Kim In-cheol, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, arrived at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Educational Facilities Safety Institute in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 14th, responding to questions from the press. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that the spouse and son of Kim In-cheol, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, received Fulbright scholarships and worked or studied at American universities. Previously, controversy arose over preferential treatment when it was disclosed that Kim himself and his daughter had received this scholarship, but it has now been revealed that the entire family benefited from the scholarship. In particular, the timing when the two children received the scholarships coincides with the period when Kim served as president of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association, raising further concerns about preferential treatment.
According to Kang Min-jung, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, Kim received a Fulbright scholarship from 1996 to 1997 and served as a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Later, from 2012 to 2015, Kim served as the 13th president of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association. The Fulbright scholarship is a U.S. Department of State scholarship that supports foreigners studying or working at American universities. The Fulbright scholarship program that Kim’s family was selected for is jointly funded by the governments of Korea and the U.S. and operated by the Korea-U.S. Educational Commission.
Kim’s spouse, Lee (surname), who was a professor at Soongsil University, received support from the Fulbright scholarship program and went to Temple University in the U.S. as an exchange professor from 2004 to 2005. The daughter attended Cornell University’s master’s program from 2014 to 2016, and the son attended Columbia University’s master’s program from 2016 to 2018, both on Fulbright scholarships. The Fulbright scholarship program provides recipients with benefits worth tens of millions of won annually, including up to $40,000 (approximately 50 million KRW) per year for tuition and $1,300 to $2,410 (1.63 million to 3.02 million KRW) per month for living expenses. Lawmaker Kang estimated that the total amount of Fulbright scholarships received by Kim’s family could reach 300 to 400 million KRW. Kang said, “The entire family benefited from a scholarship program that selects only a few recipients annually in Korea,” and added, “It is necessary to thoroughly investigate whether there was any wrongdoing in the process of Kim’s family receiving the scholarships.”
According to Kang, the Fulbright scholarship application form includes a section to list family members who have previously received the scholarship. While this may be intended to prevent duplicate benefits within a family, Kang pointed out that it could also be misused as a tool to reveal the parents’ identities and enable “dad chance” (preferential treatment based on parental status). Among past presidents of the Fulbright Alumni Association, several have been directly involved in scholarship selection as members of the Korea-U.S. Educational Commission. For example, Yoon Bok-ja, an emeritus professor at Yonsei University and the 7th president of the Fulbright Alumni Association, served as a member of the Korea-U.S. Educational Commission from 2010 to 2019, overseeing scholarship recipient selection and related duties.
Following Professor Yoon, Choi Young, an emeritus professor at Ewha Womans University and the 10th alumni president, was appointed as a commission member. Professor Lim Sung-ho of Kyung Hee University has been active as a commission member since 2013 and served as the 16th and 17th alumni president.
Meanwhile, according to Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu, Kim was listed on a petition submitted to the Supreme Court in December 2008 concerning allegations of sexual harassment against a professor while Kim was serving as the Dean of Academic Affairs at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The petition, signed by the “Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Dean Group,” reportedly contained expressions that appeared to shift responsibility for the sexual harassment onto the victim, such as stating that “the victim’s inappropriate attitude is another form of violence against the professor.”
Claims have also been raised that Kim made false explanations regarding so-called “self-approval” allegations during his tenure as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. On the same day, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae pointed out, “Kim, as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, began his term as an outside director at Lotte Advanced Materials (now Lotte Chemical) and then went through the university foundation’s approval process.” According to Park, the university sent a formal request for approval to the university foundation on March 23, 2018, the day after Kim’s outside director term at Lotte Advanced Materials began, and the foundation only approved it on March 26 of the same month. Park criticized, “The foundation’s approval, which came four days after the term started, is merely retroactive approval.”
Kim served as an outside director at Lotte Advanced Materials from March 2018 to December 2019, receiving a total remuneration of 115.66 million KRW.
Previously, lawmaker Park pointed out that university professors must obtain approval from the university president to concurrently serve as outside directors, and that Kim’s concurrent service period as an outside director coincided with his tenure as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, suggesting he gave himself “self-approval.” In response, the Ministry of Education’s confirmation hearing preparation team explained that “approval was obtained from the chairman of the university foundation.”
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