CAU Exposed: Sexual Violence, Financial Crimes & Institutional Failure

On February 5, 1998, three male students from CAU's Department of Dance filed criminal complaints alleging their professor had habitually coerced and sexually assaulted them over an extended period.

The professor simultaneously held the position of Director of the Korea National Dance Company — Korea's most prestigious public dance institution.

Outcomes:

• Oct 7, 1999: Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment; removed from National Dance Company
• Oct 9, 2001: On appeal, sentenced to 1 year imprisonment (immediate detention)
• Nov 10, 2003: Re-indicted for witness tampering (위증교사)

Source: NamuWiki — 교수/범죄

Doosan Group acquired the CAU foundation in May 2008. Within 80 days, Park Yong-sung abolished the direct presidential election system — replacing it with a Doosan-controlled appointment process.

CAU ceased to be a self-governing academic institution. The elimination of faculty and student oversight created the structural conditions for every subsequent cover-up.

Sources:

• Korea Times (Sep 24, 2008)
• Wikipedia — Chung-Ang University

Former CAU president Park Beom-hoon allegedly gave Woori Bank exclusive rights to operate banking services on both CAU campuses in exchange for a 10 billion won (~$9M USD) "donation."

Funds were routed through a dubious account; prosecutors found part of the money was never used for the school.

Source: Korea Times (May 1, 2015)

CAU president Park Beom-hoon publicly stated: "조그만 토종이 감칠맛 있어" — rendering female students as objects for male sexual appetite.

This is not a private comment. It is a public statement by the institution's highest-ranking official about the female student body he governed — made while democratic faculty governance had just been abolished under his watch.

The same man was later convicted of bribery and imprisoned.

Sources:

• Ohmynews (Feb 23, 2009) — cited in Wikipedia CAU article
• Kyunghyang Shinmun (Feb 26, 2009)
• Wikipedia — Chung-Ang University

CAU administration under Doosan-appointed leadership moved to recall and suppress a critical student journal (reported Kyunghyang Shinmun, Nov 30, 2009).

The CAU student union formally sued the Doosan foundation over alleged surveillance of student activists in 2010 (Yonhap, Jul 27, 2010).

The suppression of the student press and surveillance of activists directly dismantles the advocacy infrastructure that victim-survivors of sexual violence depend upon — a prerequisite for institutional impunity.

Source: NamuWiki — 중앙대학교/사건사고

Professor K (Department of Asian Cultural Studies / 아시아문화학부) habitually sexually assaulted female graduate students beginning at least as early as 2009. Documented acts include:

• Forcing kisses on a graduate student returning from a drinking gathering
• Groping students during department trips (학과 MT)

Four victim-survivors filed simultaneous reports to the CAU Human Rights Center in May 2018. The Center recommended full dismissal (파면) — the harshest available sanction. The Human Rights Center simultaneously found K had been embezzling research grant funds.

Sources:

• Hankyung (Jun 4, 2018)
• Seoul Sinmun (May 24, 2018)

On the night of June 12–13, 2013, adjunct lecturer "A" in CAU's Department of Sculpture sexually assaulted four female students at an end-of-semester party and attempted to take them to a motel.

Victim-survivors reported immediately to CAU's Human Rights Center. Professor "B" in the same department entered the process to pressure the four victims into a private settlement, preventing external disclosure.

CAU explicitly stated: "At the time, A was a part-time lecturer so a formal disciplinary action could not be imposed." Adjunct status was used as a structural loophole.

The case was suppressed for nearly five years until the Sculpture Department alumni association (조소학과 총동문회) issued a public statement in March 2018 demanding police investigation and dismissal of Prof B.

Sources:

• Hankyung (Mar 20, 2018)
• Kado/Gangwon Ilbo (Mar 20, 2018)

Professor J sexually assaulted a student and admitted the acts. The case was reported in national press.

However, the HR committee deliberately delayed disciplinary proceedings, allowing Professor J time to submit a resignation before a formal disciplinary decision could be issued. By resigning rather than being dismissed, J avoided a formal disciplinary record entirely.

J was subsequently rehired at Russia's North-Eastern Federal University (북동연방대학교) — a documented export of a self-admitted sexual violence perpetrator to an international academic position.

Source: NamuWiki — 중앙대학교/사건사고

CAU's educational foundation was placed under investigation for accounting fraud totaling 20.3 billion won (~$18M USD).

Park Yong-sung resigned simultaneously as:

• CAU Foundation Chairman
• Doosan Heavy Industries chairman
• Korean Olympic Committee honorary chairman

Sources:

• Korea Times (Apr 21, 2015)
• Korea Times (May 13, 2015)

Park Beom-hoon, former CAU president and Presidential Secretary for Education and Culture under Lee Myung-bak, was arrested in May 2015. Charges included:

• Receiving 1.8 billion won from Doosan through the "Mootsori" front foundation
• Receiving a 300-million-won Doosan Tower commercial unit in his wife's name
• Securing a board seat at Doosan Engine Co.
• Pressuring the Ministry of Education in 2012 to approve CAU's campus merger — saving Doosan tens of billions of won
• His daughter receiving a CAU faculty appointment under questionable circumstances (documented nepotism)

Park was convicted and imprisoned. He was released in May 2017.

Sources:

• Korea Times (May 1, 2015)
• Wikipedia — Chung-Ang University

In an email to approximately 20 opposing faculty members, Foundation Chairman Park Yong-sung wrote he would "axe those begging to be axed" — and specifically named a female professor in the German Language Department as a dismissal target.

92% of CAU faculty had voted against his restructuring plans.

This is documented gender-targeted institutional intimidation: singling out a named woman for retaliation in an all-faculty threatening communication.

Source: Korea Times (Apr 21, 2015)

Professor L in the same unnamed department that produced the 2014 (Prof J) and 2018 (Prof M) cases sexually assaulted a female graduate student and was dismissed (해임 — a 3-year rehire bar).

This case was not reported in press at the time; it appears only in NamuWiki documentation noting the three-perpetrator departmental pattern.

Three different perpetrators in one department across four years is not coincidence. It is a documented departmental culture.

Source: NamuWiki — 중앙대학교/사건사고 (footnote 2)

Reports were filed that Professor B of CAU's Cultural Studies department (문화연구학과) committed acts of sexual violence multiple times. This was investigated by the Human Rights Center.

The Center completed its investigation and in May 2018 formally recommended full dismissal (파면) — the harshest available sanction, which permanently bars rehiring.

Source: News1 (Nov 28, 2018)

A professor in CAU's Japanese Literature department (일어일문학과) was reported in national press during the 2018 MeToo wave for habitually (상습적으로) sexually assaulting students at drinking gatherings (술자리).

Source: NamuWiki — 중앙대학교/사건사고

Professor M, in the same unnamed department that produced the 2014 and 2017 cases, committed rape against a victim-survivor who was incapacitated by drugs. M denied all allegations.

CAU imposed dismissal (해임) — a 3-year bar from rehiring — rather than the permanent bar of 파면. Per NamuWiki, as of the time of writing, M remained listed in the Korean Researcher Information database (한국연구자정보) as an employee of CAU — suggesting an intent to rehire M once the student cohort that protested had graduated.

This mirrors the 2014 Professor J pattern: institutional procedures that appear punitive on the surface but are calibrated to enable eventual return.

Source: NamuWiki — 중앙대학교/사건사고

In early November 2018, Professor A of CAU's English Literature department (영어영문학과) sexually violated an undergraduate student who was incapacitated by a combination of her prescribed sleeping medication and alcohol.

After the assault, Professor A:

• Denied all allegations
• Continued calling the victim-survivor late at night
• Requested direct meetings with the victim-survivor

The victim-survivor was diagnosed with PTSD and began psychiatric treatment.

Sources:

• News1 (Nov 28, 2018)
• SBS News (Nov 28, 2018)

CAU confirmed the final dismissal (해임) decision on June 11, 2019 for Prof A of the English Literature department.

해임 imposes only a 3-year bar from rehiring, rather than the permanent bar of 파면 (full dismissal).

Students protested at the campus main entrance demanding the harsher 파면 sanction — the same pattern seen across all CAU sexual violence cases: institutional processes calibrated to minimize consequences rather than protect victims.

Across all 9 confirmed CAU sexual violence perpetrators (1998–2019): zero confirmed permanent bans (파면).

Source: News1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Gender Watchdog published an independent reciprocity audit of 63 of CAU's highest-ranked claimed international partners.

The audit revealed a 27% reciprocity rate. Major institutions such as NTU Singapore, UC Berkeley, Univ of Manchester, and Duke University do not list CAU as a partner.

After preliminary findings were shared, CAU deleted its entire international partner database from its website, restoring it 65 hours later following public exposure.

Read the full investigative report:

• Gender Watchdog Blog
• Bearblog Mirror