SNU Faculty Council: "University President Candidates Must Face Special Audit"... Calls for Thorough Investigation

"Presidential candidates must be held to the same standards as ordinary professors"

The Seoul National University Faculty Council has called for a special audit by the university administration into the candidates for the next president. After the SNU Board of Trustees decided to conduct additional verification of allegations involving the candidates, the Faculty Council has also called for a thorough investigation into the facts.

Main gate of Seoul National University’s Gwanak Campus. Yonhap News Agency

In a statement issued on October 22, the SNU Faculty Council said, "We respect the Board of Trustees' decision to verify the presidential candidates." It added, "Separately, the university administration must conduct a special audit to determine whether the candidates' conduct complied with the standards expected of faculty members and all relevant university regulations."

The Faculty Council said, "Being a candidate for university president cannot be grounds for exemption from the strict standards applied to ordinary professors," adding, "We trust that the Board of Trustees and the university administration will conduct a thorough and prompt investigation to establish the veracity of the public-interest reports." It also urged the candidates to cooperate fully with the verification process.

The controversy arose in September, when the SNU Faculty Council received reports concerning the presidential candidates. The council forwarded the information to the Presidential Candidate Recommendation Committee, which reportedly found no issue. After the university's Audit Office also received related reports, the SNU Board of Trustees decided on October 20 to form a separate committee and conduct additional verification. As a result, the final interviews of the three candidates, scheduled for October 27, were postponed to November 8.

The three candidates for the next university president are Kang Junho, a professor at the College of Education; Choi Haecheon, a professor at the College of Engineering; and Lee Jaeyoung, a professor at the College of Humanities. The Board of Trustees will select one final candidate after conducting in-depth interviews. The final candidate will be appointed by the president following a recommendation by the Minister of Education.

Lim Jeongmuk, chair of the SNU Faculty Council, said, "A president's leadership begins not only with outstanding educational abilities but also with character and integrity that set an example for fellow professors." He added, "For a presidential candidate to secure even a minimum level of legitimacy as a university president, the university's and the nation's strict standards must apply equally to the candidate, just as they do to ordinary professors, when allegations and reports are raised during the election process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.