Ex-teacher jailed for swindling W500m from student with fake professor job promise

A former high school teacher has been sentenced to prison for collecting more than 500 million won ($361,000) from a former student by falsely promising to secure him a national university professorship through connections at the Ministry of Education.

The Busan District Court's Criminal Division 6, presided over by Chief Judge Im Seong-cheol, sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to two years and six months in prison on charges of fraud and illegal solicitation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and ordered the forfeiture of 523.05 million won, Yonhap reported Tuesday.

A was indicted on charges of collecting 523 million won worth of cash and other benefits from his former student, identified as B, between December 2017 and September 2024, under the pretext of covering lobbying costs to arrange a professorship at a national university.

A, who had worked as a teacher at a high school in Busan, exploited the fact that B — his former student — had completed master's and doctoral programs in physical education and was hoping to be appointed as a university professor.

In December 2017, at a restaurant in Busan, A told B and his father that he was well acquainted with a director-general at the Ministry of Education and his associates, and that if they paid him a "processing fee," he would use those connections to have B appointed as a professor at a national university in the greater Seoul area.

In reality, the Ministry of Education official A claimed to know did not exist, and A had neither the intention nor the ability to secure a professorship for B.

He had planned to use the money for personal purposes from the start.

A received a total of 508.2 million won across 32 separate transfers, which he described as fees for civil servants and operational expenses.

He demanded the money under various pretexts — telling B that he needed to cover golf trip meals and accommodation for examiners, or that he had to make a gesture of goodwill toward a Ministry of Education director-general who was replacing his vehicle.

The court said A "actively and repeatedly deceived the victim by exploiting the personal trust built through their past teacher-student relationship," adding that "the financial damage suffered by the victim and his family was enormous, and the sense of betrayal and mental anguish they must have felt would have been immense."

However, the court took into account in its sentencing that A admitted to all charges, reached a settlement with the victim — who no longer sought punishment — and had repaid part of the damages.