Prosecutors subpoena to question parents, college officials

The Seoul District Prosecutor¡¯s Office (SDPO) said Wednesday it summoned for questioning the parents of nine students who entered five universities illegally and about 20 officials of the schools in question.

The SDPO is investigating a scandal involving the students' illegal entrance into prestigious universities, such as Korea, Ewha and Yonsei, under the special admission system for students who attended schools abroad.

The suspected students forged documents to gain admission to the universities and some university officials are suspected of collaborating with the students¡¯ parents.

Suspicious that there were more than just five students who forged entrance and graduation certificates and school records to gain admission to local schools, the SDPO plans to expand its probe.

An SDPO official said it expects to find more students who were admitted to universities illegally, taking into consideration that the universities decide whether or not to admit students under the system by screening the documents they submit.

Among the parents subpoenaed by the prosecutors were lawyers, doctors and businessmen. A popular singer whose name was not disclosed was learned to have had arranged for her three daughters to enter the university by illegal means.

Some of them testified that they gave tens of million won to brokers, including a ranking official of a foreign school in Seoul, in return for forging the necessary documents, said an SDPO source.