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| Students at Korea's prestigious universities are to hold candlelight vigils on their campuses in Seoul Thursday night to protest Justice Minister Cho Kuk. Yonhap |
Students at South Korea's three most prestigious universities are to hold candlelight vigils on their campuses in Seoul Thursday night to protest President Moon Jae-in's appointment of his embattled aide Cho Kuk as justice minister.
It will be the first time that students of Seoul National University (SNU), Korea University and Yonsei University simultaneously hold an anti-Cho candlelight rally after the corruption allegations involving the Cho family surfaced last month.
Students of SNU, Cho's alma mater and where he formerly taught, and Korea University, from which Cho's only daughter graduated, have already each held three rounds of candlelight vigils to demand his resignation. Students of Yonsei University, which is not directly related to the Cho family's alleged irregularities, will hold their first rally against the justice minister.
Resentment has been growing among college students after Moon appointed Cho, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, as justice minister Sept. 9 despite the prosecution's probe into corruption allegations involving his family members. The prosecution is looking into a suspicious investment by Cho's family members in a private equity fund, while Cho's wife was indicted for allegations that she fabricated a school certificate for her daughter. Cho denied his role in the allegations during a parliamentary confirmation hearing held on Sept. 6.
According to a poll of 504 adults nationwide conducted by Realmeter Wednesday, 55.5 percent said Moon's appointment of Cho as a Cabinet minister was the wrong decision, while 35.3 percent expressed support for the appointment.
SNU students' candlelight vigil is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Gwanak campus in southern Seoul, while candlelight rallies by Korea and Yonsei University students will start at 7 p.m.
All the rallies will be organized by individual students, instead of the student councils.
"President Moon, as well as Minister Cho, whose misconduct and hypocrisy have been laid bare, should be held accountable. Criticism against Moon and Cho has nothing to do with political orientation. It's a protest against injustice," an SNU student said.
At Korea University, student protesters have called for cancelling Cho's daughter's admission to the university, in addition to Cho's resignation.
Cho's daughter was listed as the primary writer of a pathology paper as a high school student in 2008 after she took part in a two-week internship program at a medical science institute at Dankook University. She cited the experience when she applied to Korea University in 2010.
"It is said that a fabricated experience related to a university medical paper greatly contributed to Cho's daughter's admission to Korea University. The admission should be immediately cancelled, as the pathology paper allegedly written by her has been officially nullified," a Korea University student said.
Yonsei students said they will step up calls for Cho's resignation, adding that some professors are scheduled to take part in Thursday's candlelight vigil. (Yonhap)
