Court Upholds Shin’s Jail Term

Shin Jung-ah, often called femme fatale, had her jail term confirmed by the Supreme Court, Thursday. / Korea Times By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The Supreme Court Thursday upheld an appellate court’s ruling of an 18-month prison term handed down to Shin Jung-ah, the femme fatale who wrecked the career of a senior presidential advisor and pitted two prestigious universities against each other. The sentence came after she was found guilty of forging a Yale University diploma to get a job as a professor at Dongguk University. However, Shin will walk anyway, as she has already spent sufficient time behind bars to fulfill her sentence. She has been out of custody since April on bail. “Given the evidence, the accused apparently fabricated the diploma,” the top court said in the ruling. “By doing so, she disrupted the operations of Dongguk University.” Dongguk has brought a $50 million defamation suit against Yale with the trial set to begin soon. Before the forgery scandal hit headlines in the summer of 2007, Shin was considered a rising star in the art world and was hired by Dongguk based on her forged Ph.D. But an investigation confirmed her degree was a fake and also exposed an “inappropriate” relationship she had with with Byeon Yang-kyoon, one of the top three aides at Cheong Wa Dae under the late President Roh Moo-hyun. Byeon received a one-year suspended prison term and 160 hours of community service on charges of pressuring the school board to hire her. The scandal has also touched off a new legal battle. Dongguk accused Yale of “negligence” and a “cover-up” after it mistakenly confirmed the authenticity of Shin’s Ph.D. The U.S.-based university gave confirmation but later denied having done so. Dongguk confronted it with the faxed confirmation, and Yale backed down, admitting its mistake. Yale issued an apology to Dongguk in December 2007, saying the error had occurred “in the rush of business.” pss@koreatimes.co.kr