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It also turned out to be true that on July 8, a day after returning from Guatemala where he had accompanied the president, Byeon met and discussed Shin’s situation with the monk Jangyoon, a former board member of Dongguk University, who had raised suspicions over the academic’s credentials. Byeon had said he recalls discussing various issues involving Dongguk University, but did not discuss Shin’s situation. Jangyoon revealed that Byeon offered to reinstate him as a university director if he kept his mouth shut.

Byeon had been busy avoiding reporters ever since the Chosun Ilbo first shed light on his alleged link in the Shin scandal. There were rumors that he did not go home and checked into hotels instead. When he ran into reporters at public meetings, he simply said that he had been an honest civil servant for 30 years. When asked whether he would reveal his cell phone records, he went on the offensive, asking reporters where they worked, and left the scene. He even threatened to file lawsuits. Now that he has been presented with indisputable evidence, he has finally bowed his head. From outright denial to confession, this seems to be a common pattern among disgraced presidential office staff members. They underestimate the public.

But this does not mean all the suspicions regarding Shin have been resolved. There’s still the question why Dongguk University hired her as an assistant professor simply relying on the recommendation of Byeon, even though the curator had been the subject of rumors that her degrees were bogus. How was Shin able to be chosen as the director of the Gwangju Biennale even though she was not even included among the four candidates that made the first cut in the selection process? Why did Dongguk University and the Gwangju Biennale Foundation wait until Shin left Korea for the United States to file charges, even though her bogus credentials had already been discovered? Why did prosecutors wait more than 40 days after charges had been filed to search her office and home? And did Byeon engage Shin in other projects, including those that involved the presidential office?

The public had already guessed that powerful people had a hand in Shin’s case. Yet the presidential office ignored the suspicious glances of the public. The presidential office used its spokesman to act as Byeon’s personal spokesman, issuing comments to defend him. Even President Roh himself stepped forward and gave his own authoritative interpretation of the situation, saying it was “not even worth reporting on.” What the public would really like to know is the meaning behind comments made by people around Jangyoon, who said that Byeon was merely a “feather” and that only the feathers had been ruffled.