The chief presidential secretary for national policy Byeon Yang-kyoon resigned Monday after admitting he had peddled influence to protect former Dongguk University assistant professor Shin Jeong-ah, the woman at the center of a fake degree scandal and apparently his girlfriend. President Roh Moo-hyun immediately accepted his resignation. Cheong Wa Dae faces growing criticism of low staff discipline and poor ethical standards given that it denied all allegations and accused the press of sensationalizing the mushrooming scandal.
The scandal took a fresh turn on Aug. 24, when the Chosun Ilbo reported that Byeon sought to silence the former Dongguk board member who first cast public doubt on Shin¡¯s qualifications. Byeon then went to ground at Cheong Wa Dae, admitting through presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon that he met the ex-director, the Ven. Jangyoon, on July 8 but denying he asked him to keep quiet about Shin. On Aug. 27, he vowed to sue media outlets that printed allegations against him. The president also made comments that were read as accusing the press of making a mountain out of a molehill, saying on Aug. 31, "Unfounded suspicions are rampant in recent days." On Sept. 3, Roh said the suspicions are ¡°rather unsubstantial. They sound like novels.¡±
The office of the presidential secretary for civil affairs relied solely on Byeon's own explanations instead of trying to find out the truth. Jun Hae-chul, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, told reporters Monday it was not until a search of Shin's house on Sept. 4 that prosecutors discovered that Byeon and Shin were in a close relationship. Byeon admitted that the couple met frequently for several years as alumni of Yale University -- although Shin is not in fact a graduate of the prestigious American university; that when he met Jangyoon on July 8, he did mention the case; and that while accompanying Roh on a visit to Guatemala on July 2-6, Byeon communicated with Jangyoon indirectly through a friend, according to Jun. Byeon effectively used the presidential office as a mouthpiece for 15 days of denials.
A prosecutor confirmed that Cheong Wa Dae's latest announcement was based on e-mails from Shin unearthed by prosecutors. He said there were some 100 of these e-mails, most of them ¡°love letters without envelopes.¡± Another prosecutor said some of them carried ¡°highly explicit¡± content, adding no details were reported to Cheong Wa Dae.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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