Two Professors from Sookdae Referred to Prosecution... Allegations of Preferential Treatment in Lecturer Hiring

Police: "Passed without taking the practical test"
School: "There is a separate second exam"

Two professors at Sookmyung Women's University accused of giving preferential treatment to existing instructors during the lecturer selection process were sent to the prosecution without detention.

Sookmyung Women's University. Photo by Sookmyung Women's University

The Anti-Corruption Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 27th that they recently referred two vocal music professors at Sookmyung Women's University, suspected of obstruction of business, to the prosecution without detention.

The two professors are accused of awarding passing scores to 14 existing instructors without allowing them to participate in the practical exam among the 17 candidates who passed the document screening in December 2022, during the '2023 first semester Sookmyung Women's University College of Music vocal music lecturer recruitment' process.

The Korean Non-Regular Professors' Labor Union and others held a press conference in February last year, raising suspicions that among the 17 candidates who passed the document screening, 14 existing instructors who had taught at the university until the previous semester did not attend the practical demonstration.

According to the university's personnel regulations, when a lecturer's term expires, a new recruitment procedure must be followed. However, the labor union and others believe that preferential treatment was given to the instructors who had previously taught.

In response to the controversy, Sookmyung Women's University explained that during the second round of lecturer recruitment, the 14 instructors who had not participated in the practical demonstration also performed the demonstration.