BUSAN — A former high school teacher who swindled more than 500 million won from a former student by promising to secure a professorship at a national university through a senior Education Ministry official has been sentenced to prison.
The Busan District Court's sixth criminal division, presided over by Judge Lim Sung-chul, said on the 22nd that it had sentenced the former teacher, identified as A, to two years and six months in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 523.05 million won ($376,000). A was tried on charges of fraud and brokering bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Prosecutors said A received about 523 million won in cash and goods from the former student, identified as B, in 32 separate installments over about seven years from December 2017 to September 2024, on the pretext of paying for influence-peddling to win a professorship at a national university.
A, who had taught at a high school in Busan, exploited the hopes of the former student, who had completed a doctoral program in physical education and was eager to land a teaching post. A told B and B's father that A knew "the Education Ministry director-general and his associates well" and promised to secure a professorship at a national university in the Seoul metropolitan area in exchange for what A called "operating expenses."
A then continued to extract money with a series of pretexts, saying funds were needed to cover a golf trip for members of the selection committee and that a gesture was required to help replace the Education Ministry director-general's car. Investigators found that the ministry official and the others A had cited did not exist, and that A had spent all of the money on personal expenses.
The court said A had repeatedly deceived the victim by exploiting the personal trust built through their former teacher-student relationship, inflicting enormous financial and emotional harm, and that a stern punishment was unavoidable. The court said it had also taken into account that A admitted to the crimes, reached a settlement with the victim, who submitted a statement asking that A not be punished, and had repaid part of the losses.
