The state anti-corruption body on Monday called for the government and universities to plug loopholes in preferential admission rules for overseas Korean students.

Currently, applicants who hold foreign citizenship or who studied at least three years in a foreign country can apply for the special quota system without competing with ordinary applicants.

But the rule is believed to be widely exploited by affluent parents to gain admission of their unqualified children into prestigious schools, especially by manipulating documents on foreign school attendance and overseas stays.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission had recommended the Ministry of Education and the association of Korean universities strengthen the criteria, monitoring and punishment of violators.

“There are increasing numbers of admission scams taking advantage of the overseas Korean admission system. Because universities here don’t properly check the applicants’ documents and also the punishment for those who illegally forge or alter documents has been too weak,” an official from the state-agency said.

The anti-corruption agency noted it had advised the ministry to set up guidelines for special admission and ban those convicted in admission scams from applying to other schools.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)