Manipulated Birth Certificate to Enroll and Attend School
"Does Not Look That Age," Testimony Also Given
Indicates Intention to Return to Korea After Trial Completion
A 29-year-old Korean American woman who lied about being 15 years old to enroll in a U.S. high school stated, "I did it because of my longing for my school days."
According to foreign media including The New York Times on the 21st (local time), the second trial was held for Shin Mo (29), a Korean American woman who was charged with submitting a false birth certificate and enrolling in a high school in New Brunswick, New Jersey the day before.
"An act driven by the desire to return to a time that gave comfort in loneliness"
Shin’s legal team claimed innocence, stating, "Our client acted out of a desire to return to a safe and welcoming environment."
Earlier, in January, Shin submitted a fake birth certificate to New Brunswick High School, falsely claiming to be 15 years old and enrolled. She attended the high school for four days, attending classes and socializing with students.
The reason Shin was able to pose as a student was due to New Jersey state law allowing students to attend school immediately after enrollment. Even if enrollment documents are incomplete, they only need to be submitted within 30 days after enrollment.
However, during the process of submitting documents for proper identity verification, Shin’s document forgery was discovered. The police arrested her on charges of forgery of official documents.
Showed sensitive reactions when asked "How old are you?"
It is reported that students who interacted with Shin were greatly shocked when this fact was revealed.
One student who had contact with Shin told foreign media in an interview, "She pretended to be a freshman, but did not look that age."
When the student asked Shin "How old are you?", she acted strangely, "She looked at me, then averted her gaze, looked back at me again, and then walked away," the student recounted.
Also, she sent messages to some students saying "Let's play together," but no one went out with her. The student said, "If someone had gone out, who knows what might have happened."
Regarding this, some have speculated that she approached with the intent to lure teenage girls into illegal prostitution, according to foreign media.
However, Shin’s legal team denied these allegations, stating, "There was no malicious intent; she was simply lonely," and "There was no other intention, and no students were harmed."
Went to study in the U.S. at a young age... Recently faced overlapping life stresses
Shin reportedly went to study abroad in the U.S. at age 16, lived in a boarding school, and later enrolled at Rutgers University, a state university in New Jersey, majoring in political science and Chinese language and literature.
However, during the previous trial, Shin’s side explained that she had been away from Korea for a long time and recently experienced the pain of divorce, which may have led to unusual behavior.
They consistently argued, "This was an act to regain the sense of stability she had during her high school days, with no criminal intent."
Shin expressed a desire to return to Korea once the trial concludes, but if she receives a prison sentence, her return to Korea is expected to be canceled.
Shin’s next trial is scheduled for May 15.
Criticism of lax security system... "Will improve"
Meanwhile, immediately after Shin’s crime was revealed, students and parents criticized the school’s lax security system.
Students protested at the school, saying that the poor student registration process endangered safety.
The school stated that it advised all students who had contact with Shin to avoid any direct or indirect contact with her. Additionally, the school announced that it would review the enrollment registration process and verify documents more thoroughly in light of this incident.
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