Consideration of Cho Min’s university admission to take more time

Korea University’s deliberation on the admission of the ex-justice minister’s daughter is to take more time, after her high school was barred from providing her school transcript record to the university.

On Monday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it ordered the Hanyoung Foreign Language High School to withhold their transcript of ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s daughter, Cho Min.

Though Rep. Hwangbo Seung-hee of the main opposition People Power Party claimed the education office prohibited the high school from submitting the data on its own accord, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said the decision was based on legal grounds.

The committee under Korea University, formed in August to deliberate on whether to cancel Cho’s admission to the university, requested a copy of her school records from her high school.

Following the request, the high school asked the Seoul education office to review the case based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which prohibits schools from providing any third party with school records without the consent of the student or student’s parents, except in certain cases.

The education office decided it would be improper for the school to submit the record as Cho Kuk had requested the school not to provide the data, citing a lack of consent from his daughter and that it has been more than five years since the data was used for admission to the university.

“Cho’s case is still on trial at the high court. The education office deems that the high school should correct the record based on the final ruling before submission,” said the education office on Monday. It was referring to the conviction of Cho’s mother in an academic fraud case related to her daughter’s unfair admission in August.

Meanwhile, Pusan National University, where the younger Cho has been studying at after graduating from Korea University, has decided to nullify its admission of Cho to its medical school in 2015, following her mother’s recent conviction.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)