Ministry of Education Audit Reveals 21 Violations
20 Individuals Face Severe Disciplinary Actions
5.9 Billion Won in School Funds Recovered
It has been revealed that Song Sangyeop, the founder of Woongjin Tax College, who was stripped of his teaching qualifications and sentenced to prison for embezzling tens of billions of won in school funds, continued to act as the "Chairman" and maintained a family-run management structure at the university until recently. Those involved are facing a slew of disciplinary actions.
On October 21, Yonhap News Agency reported the results of an audit conducted by the Ministry of Education on Woongjin Tax College and Woongji Academy. The Ministry of Education identified a total of 21 issues and requested the school corporation to impose disciplinary measures on 20 individuals (3 severe disciplinary actions, 3 minor disciplinary actions, and 14 warnings). The comprehensive audit was carried out twice: from July 15 to 31, 2024, and again from October 28 to 29, 2024.
Personnel measures were taken against 20 people (3 severe disciplinary actions, 3 minor disciplinary actions, and 14 warnings), while 34 administrative actions were imposed (15 institutional warnings and cautions, 7 notifications, 4 corrective orders, and 1 improvement order). In terms of financial measures, 5,905,500,000 won was recovered.
The audit found that Song Sangyeop, the founder and former president of Woongjin Tax College, had no official position at the school but used the chairman's office as his personal office from December 2022 and was involved in all aspects of university management.
The audit also revealed that he gave direct orders on major decisions, personally presided over admissions briefings for new students, and uploaded related videos to the university website, thus interfering in the overall operation of the school corporation and the university.
Despite being ineligible for appointment as a lecturer, Song continued to teach major-related classes as a "practical program expert." He entered into an improper contract by making his lecture videos mandatory for student viewing and evaluation, effectively forcing students to watch them, and received 2.7 billion won in school funds as a result.
As the head of the company operating the Woongjin Tax College dormitory, Song also entered into an improper contract by leasing unnecessary dormitory space to the school on a long-term basis, taking 2.9 billion won in school funds.
Improper hiring practices for new faculty members were also uncovered. Park Yunhee, Song's wife and former president, applied for a new faculty position at Woongjin Tax College while serving as vice president alongside A, Song's cousin-in-law, and was hired as an assistant professor. She directly participated as a member of the faculty personnel committee, effectively engaging in "self-hiring."
At the time, Song participated in the review process in place of Chairman B. To conceal this from the Ministry of Education, Park, A, and B all gave false statements during the audit.
In addition, Woongji Academy falsified the minutes of the school corporation’s board meetings. For example, even though the fourth board meeting was not held on June 26, 2024, they fabricated the minutes to make it appear as if a remote video conference had taken place.
Meanwhile, on August 25, 2022, Song was indicted again on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and was dismissed from the school. In August 2024, he was sentenced by the Supreme Court to five years in prison for embezzlement of school funds and is currently serving his sentence. His wife, Park, was also sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, for wage arrears and breach of duty, and has stepped down from the university.
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