Dongguk University said in a statement it will take the US university to court for wrongly confirming that high-profile former employee Shin Jeong Ah had a Yale doctorate.

In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday with the Connecticut District Court, Dongguk cited 'wrongdoings' by Yale over the incident which blew up into a major scandal last year.

The affair began when the Seoul university hired Ms Shin as an assistant art professor in 2005 and asked Yale to confirm her claimed degree, which it did.

Ms Shin also won co-directorship at the country's largest contemporary art exhibition and was the lover of a top presidential adviser.

When suspicions arose about her credentials, Dongguk approached Yale again and was reportedly told Ms Shin had never attended the university and that the initial confirmation was a mistake.

Dongguk fired Ms Shin last year after the 35-year-old was found to have forged undergraduate and master's degree certificates from the University of Kansas and Yale.

Her case sparked revelations and confessions about forged academic records from teachers and celebrities including top artists and entertainers.

It prompted prosecutors to launch a crackdown on false diplomas.

Ms Shin was a lover of Byeon Yang Kyun, 58, who was dismissed last year as a top policy adviser to the then-president Roh Moo Hyun because of alleged corruption.

Mr Byeon has been indicted for bribery and embezzlement and Ms Shin was accused of forgery. -- AFP