Our shameless professors

When appearing before the prosecution as a witness in October, Kim Hyung-soo, professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of Communications who served as the first chairman of the Mir Foundation, said, “I did nothing to feel shame about to students.” Although he was embroiled in the "Choi Soon-sil scandal," he apparently means that he is innocent. He seemed to think that he voluntarily served and contributed as unpaid non-executive chairman of the Mir Foundation, which purportedly aimed to promote Korea’s tradition and culture. He strongly refuted by saying that as the chairman, I gained neither any money nor power in return, but people can go into big trouble by assuming a position recklessly.

Ahn Jong-beom, former senior presidential secretary of policy coordination who will appear as a suspect before prosecutors on Wednesday, was a professor of Sungkyunkwan University. He acquired a doctorate degree in economics at the prestigious University of Wisconsin. Along with Kang Seok-hoon, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan, and Rep. Yoo Seung-min, Ahn was considered one of the "Wisconsin quartets" who were key aides to President Park Geun-hye. As economic mentor to President Park, he is also one of the experts who created the concept of "well principled capitalism." We wonder what economic theory he could use to explain his act of "ripping" conglomerates off money.

Many professors often say these days that they don’t have motivation to work hard. This is because they face restrictions in behaviors and activities and saw their once abundant supplementary income decline significantly due to the anti-graft Kim Young-ran act. Theses review fees, which they had received as customary practice, have all disappeared, and a cap has been put in place for the honorarium they are paid for an external lecture. A national university professor, whose external lecture fee is set at 200,000 won (175 U.S. dollars) per hour, may feel a sense of relative deprivation to see a private university professor who is 1 million won (880 dollars) in honorarium per hour. However, people still widely believe that a professor is the best occupation in the contemporary Korean society.

Since the National Assembly Act that prohibits lawmakers from taking extra job took effect, professors also show keen interest in assuming a minister or vice minister post, head of a state-run company, or chairman of a national commission. Building up personal network by joining special graduate study programs or executive education programs targeting ranking government officials or corporate executives is also an activity aimed at helping develop a successful career. It is shameful because of certain professors who siphon off labor costs earmarked for their students and use the money to pay for their own children’s overseas study and purchase property, in contrast to genuine and sincere professors who dedicated themselves only to research and teaching. If those professors are advised to follow teachers’ ethics, they might refute the advice by calling such practice "outdated legacy from the Feudal Age."