The Education Ministry is keeping track of sex-related crimes at less than half of universities in Korea, a lawmaker told local media on Sunday.
Just 78 universities ― 39 percent of 198 universities here ― have submitted data on sex offenses that occurred on their campuses, Yonhap reported, citing Rep. Park Joo-sun of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy.
While the Education Ministry requests data on sex offenses, universities are not mandated by law to comply. A ministry official said required data was collected on demand.
“It is impossible to form an appropriate policy if (the ministry) is oblivious to reality,” Park said. “Despite the rampant sex crimes by university professors, the ministry failed to determine exactly how serious the problem was.”
According to ministry data compiled by Park, 100 sex offense cases occurred from 2010 to 2014. But the ministry’s data left out major universities including Seoul National University and Korea University, both of which were embroiled in sex scandals involving professors.
A math professor at SNU was arrested in December on the charge of groping several of his students, sparking shock and anger across the country.
Last month, SNU students agreed to hold a school-wide online survey on sex offense on campus. They also vowed to determine if the school provided sufficient help for victims through its student rights center.
A recent survey by a presidential committee on young people’s needs found that 65.3 percent of students victimized sexually by a professor did not take any action, due to fear of receiving disadvantages.
In light of mounting public fury over revelations of university sex crimes, the Education Ministry advised all colleges to revise their regulations so that professors accused of sex offense cannot quit their jobs.
When a faculty member accused of sex crime quits his or her post, the school inquiry and any disciplinary actions are discontinued. Faculty members of state-run colleges are banned by law from doing so, but no such restriction exists for faculty members of private colleges, allowing some professors to dodge punishment by the school.
Saenuri Party Rep. Joo Ho-young recently proposed a bill to prevent any member of a privately run educational institute from resigning after a criminal indictment.
By Yoon Min-sik and news reports (
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
