SEOUL • A professor at South Korea's top women's university has been detained on charges of giving academic favours to the daughter of a key figure in the country's influence-peddling scandal.
Professor Ryu Chul Kyun was accused of ordering his teaching assistants at Ewha Womans University to complete assignments for Ms Chung Yoo Ra, daughter of Choi Soon Sil.
South Korean media reported that a test paper had been submitted under her name even when she was in Germany.
Prof Ryu, a novelist better known by his pen name Yi In Hwa, was taken into custody over the weekend due to "concerns of him destroying evidence", according to an independent counsel set up to investigate the case.
Ms Chung was accused of illegally enrolling in Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 2015, using her mother's political connections to force the elite school to accept her despite poor qualifications.
An inquiry by the Education Ministry revealed that the school had admitted her at the expense of other candidates with better credentials.
In October, the president of the university, Ms Choi Kyung Hee, resigned following protests by students and professors over allegations that the university had given special treatment to Ms Chung.
It was the first time in Ewha's 130-year history that a president quit before completing her tenure.
Ms Chung, whose enrolment at Ewha was revoked in November, was arrested in Denmark for overstaying her visa.
Seoul prosecutors said yesterday they would seek the 20-year-old's formal extradition even if she wants to return home voluntarily.
NYTIMES, KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK