Now Lee Ji-yeong of KBS’s “Good Morning Pops” has been forced off the show for allegedly forging her degrees (allegations she admitted to in a phone conversation with NoCut News).
-
English Books on Korea... and More!
-
Visit My Brother's Film Review Site
25 Comments
Forced off the show? Already? Earlier today I posted on this on my Korea Law Blog and there’s some uncertainty in my mind whether there would be legal cause to terminate in Ms. Lee’s case. That program is essentially an entertainment program — what’s the requirement for graduate degrees from foreign universities?
The presence or absence of a degree is a crutch for hiring managers who don’t have the ability to actually figure out if someone is really qualified for something. Hence the need for perfectly qualified people to fake degrees. I don’t know this chick in question, but apparently she did a fine job as a host. No doubt she’d never have been considered without fake sheepskin. Ditto the art chick and her reportedly excellent ability to host art exhibits.
Anyway, I see too much emphasis on a piece of paper rather than actual ability to do something. And before anyone rides me as being anti-Korean, I sometimes see this in the U.S. as well (not as much, though).
Brendon, putting all that legal stuff aside for a second (it’s not that important, is it?!), wouldn’t you agree that in the interest of all that is holy, she should go directly to jail, without passing GO, and without collecting $200?
Anyway, let the games begin. I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg.
That is too bad because I actually think she was good on the show.
I would hire her just for her ability but then I suppose she is not working as a bona-fide English teacher but as a show host.
Although I do not know all the details, did she not receive a book deal largely in part of her claim that she completed an MA in Linguistics?
She embarrassed her employers and passed herself off as a so-called expert which perhaps contributed to her large following in the first place.
She did peddle a lot of products based on her claim, so perhaps she could be sued for false advertising –I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer…
Why are diplomas necessary? Employers use them to determine the capability of candidates by virtue of their ability to have acheived the degree through the work required, but they can also be a requirement for participation in a pension. In her job at KBS, where her empoyer could test her out in front of a microphone, her academic credentials would have served promotional purpose, influencing listeners as to her knowledge.
Moreover, and by her own admission, she lied to other employers about her academic background before she was hired for the job at KBS. That means that qualified applicants who applied for these jobs lost out to a candidate who did not qualify. And before she would have been able to prove her worth on the job, her employers would have relied on the viability of her credentials. Instead, they simply relied on the claimed viability of her credentials, and unknown folks lost out on job opportunities.
Bottom line: run an independent check - every single time.
She should get a 6 month jail sentence for fraud. It’s only fair…
I am not sure her job should require any sort of degree. I was once a guest on her show and I found her very professional. But, it is really only edutainment at best. However, I believe that is beside the point. Lying about your qualifications on an application is unethical and should call into question the integrity of the applicant or employee. You can say all you want about pressures, debts or double standards but those are only reasons for the lie. Whether her job should require a masters in my mind has nothing to do with the fact that she lied.
Furthermore, it seems to me that part of the problem is actually logistical in a certain respect. I work at a graduate school here in Korea and initially they only asked for diplomas from prospective students including those with international degrees. I’m not sure about Europe/UK or other parts of the world but in the US(and Canada I believe), a diploma is just something to put in a frame and hang on your wall. It isn’t like currency; it is very easy to fake. A transcript on the other hand has certain security features and is generally much harder to fake. When applying for school/jobs in the US, I was always asked for transcripts not diplomas. As I understand it, in Korea a diploma is more like a legal document and is more difficult to fake.
Now my school requires transcipts from all applicants and employees. For those who have North American degrees, I would think that this is the best idea.
There is nothing wrong about not being aware of this cultural or institutional difference but I think it underlies some of the confusion and creates a situation where ‘diploma’ fraud is much too easy.
I agree that the issue is not whether she is qualified or not, it’s the fact that she lied. After all, remember why George O’Leary got axed from the ND job? He lied about getting a master’s degree from NYU and lettering in football at New Hampshire, even though he proved at Georgia Tech that he was a damn good coach.
What this lady did is wrong. Plain and simple.
Never mind the degree itself (which I think is important, though not necessarily an absolute requirement). SHE LIED ABOUT HER BACKGROUND!!!! Imagine if someone was hired based on their resume’….and it turns out some of the key things on his resume’ were actually lies?
BTW, this happened recently to someone hired to be a football coach at Notre Dame, I believe. It turned out he LIED about some of his experience as a coach. So, he didn’t get the job.
Should this be a surprise???
I’m probably better at diagnosing certain physical illnesses than a medical doctor (for real). Should I make a career out of practicing medicine then and lie that I got a medical degree to get credibility? Gee, what should happen to my job at a hospital if it was found out I LIED about getting a medical degree?
I’m not familiar with the host or the show, but I read in a Korean-language article on her yesterday that she’s a 영어강사 (English teacher)…on the show? Does she do English lessons on the show? This would probably be the reason for the controversy, if she was hired because of her credentials.
GBNHJ hits the nail on the head: in the cases of both Ms Shin and Ms Lee, their fake credentials may have given them their positions at the expense of legitimately qualified people who were passed over. Maybe there was some up-and-coming woman in the male-dominated art world who really had all the right stuff, but who missed out because of Shin Jeong-ah—not to mention the Buddhist monk on Dongguk’s board who got into trouble because he dared question her qualifications.
Now, caveat lector (reader beware): In South Korea, a “legitimately qualified” person was probably only able to attain that status by having the money or connections to get into the “right” schools, or afford the tutors necessary to be able to qualify for an Ivy League school in the States…in a sense, they don’t need the break that a working-class kid like Shin Jeong-ah needs—someone who in a society like Korea’s may have had no hope of advancing into the higher social strata without doing something dastardly. That still doesn’t excuse her behaviour, though.
I think there is a law in Korea that’s called something like “official document forgery law”. I think she and the other women should be prosecuted under such a law, as a CV is an official document.
A reporter from the Korea Herald contacted me today. Here’s what I sent him by e-mail in response to questions about diploma forgery:
Creation of fake diplomas is the crime of “Forgery or Alteration of a Private Document” (Art. 231 of the Korean Criminal Code). The punishment is a jail term of up to five years or a fine of up to 10 million won.
It doesn’t matter if the degree is an international degree or a domestic one.
However, the foreigner who submits that fake diploma to the Ministry of Justice to obtain an immigration visa, or the employer who does so, also violates the Immigration Control Act’s criminal provisions. That’s what’s different between the Korean and foreign degree-faker.
Lately, there has been a trend for police and prosecutors to claim that the employee defrauded the employer of wages for the period of employment — because if not for the fake diploma the employee would not have been hired. Fraud (Art. 347) carries a potential sentence up to 10 years in jail or a fine of up to 20 million won.
We don’t have hard data on sentences, but my partner who was a judge says that sentences for forgery are generally pretty light — usually a fine of W1,000,000-3,000,000. We similarly don’t know about whether the fraud prosecution angle is a winner or not.
Oops, other woman, not other women.
Don’t worry. There will be more in the next days and weeks. I guarantee it.
The example of the medical doctor is a poor one. There is a law called the Medical Services Act concerning the practice of medicine which defines the qualifications for being a doctor. Among them is graduation from an approved medical school. But unless there is a Korean law requiring that someone who “teaches” English on TV has a teaching credential or a foreign graduate degree (I haven’t checked and there are a ton of special laws here), this would not be analogous to the case of Ms. Lee.
Brendon, why can chiropractors get away with giving themselves the title of ‘Doctor’?
“…why can chiropractors get away with giving themselves the title of ‘Doctor’?”
Because “chiropractic” is a state recognized and licensed profession just like medicine (in the US anyway, don’t know about the ROK).
“…All States and the District of Columbia regulate the practice of chiropractic and grant licenses to chiropractors who meet the educational and examination requirements established by the State. Chiropractors can practice only in States where they are licensed….
Most State boards require at least 2 years of undergraduate education; an increasing number are requiring a 4-year bachelor’s degree. All boards require the completion of a 4-year program at an accredited chiropractic college leading to the Doctor of Chiropractic degree.
For licensure, most State boards recognize either all or part of the four-part test administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners….
In 2005, 15 chiropractic programs and 2 chiropractic institutions in the United States were accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education…”
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos071.htm#training
and since we’re all asking, Brendon, what’s the legal backing for airline ‘food’?
“Because “chiropractic” is a state recognized and licensed profession just like medicine (in the US anyway, don’t know about the ROK). ”
So is being a plumber, a teacher, or a nurse, but I don’t see many of them calling themselves doctors.
It may be a licensed profession, but the Doctor of Chiropractic title is just to further take advantage of the fact that people will believe anything a guy in a white lab coat will tell them. Do you believe that your health depends on how your spine’s alignment? I know people with a hunchback who lead perfectly healthy lives.
The problem for foreigners in Korea is the selective application of the law. Westerners are taught to expect it, but Korea is not a country that applies its laws equally to koreans and non koreans. If Korea wants to be a hub or be respected by non koreans then fair treatment of foreigners and foreign companies will be needed. Foreign companies and individuals do not always want special treatment, but fair and equal. Thats the outrage by westerners about the issue of fake degrees.
To sewing
The cheaters are not from the working class.
They are from the have families in their region.
Don’t make little of the local powers.
The local powers have enough money and solid connections with other local or central powers. Let’s think of Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young -Sam.
And the children of the power are instilled with pride and arrogance, for they have strong background. Their mother will do anything. In the case of money deficit, their mom will sell their body to supply the exorbitant extracurricular expenses of their children. Korean moms’ skirt-wind is notorious.
(I wonder if there’s any mom who has extramarital relations to the teachers to have their children get a good schoolwork grade. If so, it’s an example of two birds with one stone.)
As a natural result, the children of the power have top record at school and easily instated to the president of the students at an elemetary school or even onto the high school.
In this way, the children of the local power become indulged in DELUSION OF GRANDEUR.
They have achieved something, but with no sweat and with no stronghold.
At the time of wider world, inner conflict begins. They sense that they are nothing in a wider world. And cheating begins to show off to the hometown plain people.
Do not pull out 학벌. The cheaters actively made use of the name of self-asserted universities.