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Chief Presidential Secretary for National Policy Byeon Yang-kyoon, who is suspected of pressuring Buddhist monk Jangyoon to keep mum about his doubts concerning the Yale doctorate of Dongguk University assistant professor Shin Jeong-ah, attends a luncheon with a blank face at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday.
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Prosecutors have made no tangible progress in their investigation of a snowballing bogus degree scandal surrounding former Dongguk University assistant professor Shin Jeong-ah. The Seoul Western District ProsecutorsĄ¯ Office said it sent a summons on Wednesday to the Ven. Jangyoon, who was the first to raise public doubts about the prominent curatorĄ¯s academic background. The Buddhist monk, a former director on the university board, was asked to appear for questioning on Sept. 3, a month after the school asked prosecutors to look into the fake degree case.
Prosecutors have not questioned former Dongguk president Hong Ki-sam, who had full authority in appointing Shin as an assistant professor. Prosecutors have only recently started questioning professors who had doubts or opposed ShinĄ¯s appointment.
Although chief presidential secretary for national policy Byeon Yang-kyoon is suspected of attempting to silence the Ven. Jangyoon in early July, prosecutors have no plan to question Byeon. They say Byeon had no part in ShinĄ¯s appointment as a professor and his attempt to hush up the fake degree scandal does not constitute a crime. They can therefore decide whether to summon Byeon only after the Ven. Jangyoon has been questioned.
However, all suspicions surrounding Shin point to outside pressure in her appointment, considering she was hired as a professor over the objections of other faculty members without submitting proper academic certificates. And she was selected as a co-director of the prestigious Gwangju Biennale although she ranked last in the screening procedures.
Many people believe a special division of the Seoul Central District ProsecutorsĄ¯ Office or the Supreme Public ProsecutorsĄ¯ Office should take over the case from the criminal department of the Western District ProsecutorsĄ¯ Office, which deals with legal complaints. Critics say prosecutors should investigate the scandal as a special criminal case to discover whether powerful figures were involved in ShinĄ¯s appointments, rather than waiting for the disgraced curator to resurface from hiding overseas.
There are also demands to question key figures on the boards of Dongguk University and the Gwangju Biennale who filed a compliant against Shin after the scandal broke but allegedly delayed lodging it to give her time to flee abroad.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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