SNU professor faces more sexual abuse claims

A high-profile mathematician and professor at Seoul National University has come under fire for more allegations of sexual harassment after prosecutors announced he is being investigated for allegedly molesting one of his former female interns in July.

The professor, who served as one of the leading organizers of this year’s International Congress of Mathematicians ― a quadrennial conference for mathematicians worldwide ― had been working with the alleged victim, who helped him plan the event held in Seoul in August.

The young woman in her 20s reportedly quit her internship the day after being assaulted.

After it was revealed on Monday that the professor was being investigated for groping the intern’s breast while telling her to sit on his lap, a number of SNU students wrote online posts arguing that they, too, had been sexually harassed by him in recent years.

On Monday night, an SNU student anonymously posted an entry on Snulife, an SNU student community Web portal, saying she had been harassed by the professor.

He reportedly sent her inappropriate text messages, including one that said, “I miss you,” for almost two years.

Following her post, about 10 more students ― none of whom revealed their names ― accused the professor of sexually harassing them as well.

One accused him of grabbing her buttocks, while other accusations included kissing, touching hands and sending inappropriate text messages.

“I don’t even want to think of these times,” said one of the students, who accused the professor of sending her explicit texts for three consecutive months.

Some of the students said they had kept the explicit text messages received from the professor and would possibly file a police complaint against him.

SNU was unavailable for comment.

Sexual harassment by high-profile figures has been reported frequently in recent years. In one such case, ex-presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung sexually assaulted a Korean-American hired to help the Seoul delegation in Washington while accompanying President Park Geun-hye on her U.S. visit last year.

Earlier this year, a female caddie filed a complaint against a former National Assembly Speaker for sexually assaulting her during a round of golf in September.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)