A woman in her 50s who worked as an assistant professor at Kookmin University by forging a doctoral degree from a prestigious British university has been sentenced to prison.
On May 31, Judge Jang Wonjeong of the Seoul Northern District Court's Criminal Division 9 announced that Kim (53) had been sentenced to one year in prison on charges of forging private documents, using forged private documents, and obstruction of business.
Kim was accused of conspiring with an Indian national in April 2017 to pay 20 million won to forge a Doctor of Education diploma from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
In April 2020, Kim used the falsified academic credentials to apply for a full-time faculty position at Kookmin University. She then worked as an assistant professor at the College of General Education at Kookmin University for about two years starting in September of the same year.
The court stated, "Purchasing false academic credentials to be appointed as faculty deprives others who are sincerely pursuing their studies of opportunities and infringes on the legitimate right to education of the students at the university. Despite this, the defendant appears to be shifting responsibility to others and is not truly reflecting on her actions."
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