On August 17, Pusan National University (PNU) voided its offer of admission in 2015 to Cho Min, the daughter of the former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. This decision came on the heels of the Seoul High Court ruling, which indicted Cho Min's mother on 15 counts of fraudulent admissions. While PNU has acted swiftly and decisively, Korea University (KU) has been slower to come to a decision on the validity of her admission into the school, carefully deliberating her case. Impatient to hear back from the school, KU students have taken to social media to vent about the issue, with Cho Min’s name becoming the most searched up topic on Koreapas during the week of PNU’s announcement.

This is not the first time the Cho family has come under fire. When Cho Kuk was appointed as Justice Minister in 2019, he served a mere 35 days before stepping down due to intense public scrutiny, with rumors of fraud circulating about his daughter’s extracurricular activities. These suspicions have proven true in time, with the Seoul High Court sentencing her mother to four years in prison this year. Following the ruling, The Ministry of Health and Welfare has put into motion procedures to disqualify Cho Min's medical license as well.

Regarding her admissions fraud, the nation seems to be divided in opinion. While some argue that the cancellation of her acceptance into PNU came too late in time, others believe that she should be able to retain her acceptance and both degrees from the universities. KU students, however, have leaned towards the revocation of Cho’s degree, calling upon the university to follow PNU’s lead and take immediate action.

As one student writes on Koreapas, “At this point, KU should really clarify its stance on the issue. I’m confident that the school will cancel her admission by the second trial, but I sure hope this does not drag on for any longer.” Other students were more vehement in their appeals to the school, demanding that “KU should cancel it now. When will they announce it?”. ​​Indeed, a flyer satirizing KU was uploaded, with Cho Min’s face replacing that of a tiger—the school's mascot—and the name of the university switched to Chorea University.  The establishment year has also changed to 2019, when allegations of fraud were first raised.

On Everytime, one student anonymously compared the school’s response to that of Ewha University, which was embroiled in a similar academic scandal in 2017. Choi Soon-sil—the confidante of the former disgraced president Park Geun-hye—used her presidential ties to admit her daughter into Ewha University. Upon discovery, her academic fraud sparked massive protest and the university ordered an immediate expulsion of her daughter’s degree without trial. The anonymous writer makes a jab at KU, remarking that “At this point, Ewha University would have been done and dusted with the case.”

In response to the students’ comments, KU President Chung Jin Taek calls for their patience as KU contemplates Cho Min's case. He states, “We will take the second trial judgment into account, reviewing all facts related to the case, and take necessary measures. We will notify you of our decision soon.”

As with Choi Soon-sil, this is not the first time for wealthy and powerful individuals to leverage their influence and resources to grant their children entry into the most prestigious institutions in the nation. Evidently, more guardrails are necessary. Universities can, for one, consider auditing their admission processes—calling or emailing prospective students at random to verify information in their profiles. In doing so, KU—and largely all universities—will hopefully be able to prevent similar admissions scandals from befalling their university in the future.