Deputy prime minister and education minister nominee Kim In-chul’s daughter received a Fulbright scholarship amounting to 100 million won for two years when Kim served as the chairman of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association, triggering a heated debate over “favors from Daddy.” What’s more, it was confirmed that Kim’s son was also selected as a recipient of the Fulbright scholarship. Thus, it turns out that Kim’s wife and two children as well as Kim himself had been selected for the Fulbright Program in Korea. The latest revelation is expected to fuel the controversy of possible privileges in the scholarship applicant review process.

According to the coverage by the Kyunghyang Shinmun and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kang Min-jung, a member of the parliamentary Education Committee, on April 26, Kim In-chul’s son (30) received a Fulbright scholarship that included his tuition, living expenses, family allowance, and round-rip international airfare in 2016, when Kim was an auditor of the Korea Fulbright Foundation (KFF). A recipient of the Fulbright scholarship can receive up to 50 million won a year. The year 2016 was the year after Kim resigned as chairman of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association. The Korea Fulbright Foundation is a non-profit organization established mainly by the alumni association.

Kim In-chul’s son graduated from the Department of English at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in February 2016, when the minister nominee was the president of the school. That same year, the nominee’s son entered Colombia University and attended a master’s program in the College of Social Sciences until 2018. He then advanced to Rochester University in the U.S. and graduated with a master’s degree in business administration in 2020. One person familiar with the situation said, “According to the documents, his daughter was the only one stated as a recipient of the Fulbright scholarship, but his son also received it. So his entire family including his wife and himself have received funds from Fulbright.” He claimed that it was because Kim In-chul and Shim Jai-ok, the head of Fulbright Korea at the time were close.

Earlier, Kim In-chul’s daughter (32) was at the center of controversy when news got out that she had received the Fulbright scholarship for two years when she attended a master’s program at Cornell University in 2014. At the time, Kim In-chul was the chairman of the Fulbright Alumni Association. His daughter graduated from the Department of Business Administration at Ewha Womans University in February 2014 and entered Cornell University in August that year. She attended a master’s program in applied economics until 2016. In the “Acknowledgements” in her English thesis, she wrote that she particularly thanked the Fulbright Foundation for selecting her as a recipient.

Kim In-chul served as the chairman of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association from January 2012 until December 2015. He served as the auditor of the Korea Fulbright Foundation twice in 2009-2011 and 2014-2018. Reportedly, in the year that Kim’s two children were selected for the Fulbright program, there was no “blind” evaluation (a review process where people evaluating the applicants do not know who the applicants are). Every year, about 20-30 students are selected for the Fulbright Program, and the competition among Korean students pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree is fierce, since just being selected as a Fulbright grantee is considered as an attractive experience to put in one’s resume.

Kim In-chul’s confirmation hearing team spoke on this issue and said, “Fulbright Korea has all the documents concerning the review for the Fulbright scholarship, so we do not know the details,” and added, “When we get the opportunity, we will disclose the truth in the confirmation hearing.” A representative of Fulbright Korea said, “We have decided not to discuss this (with the press),” and added, “We have no comment.”

Lawmaker Kang Min-jung said, “The fact that every member of the same family received a scholarship program for which only a few dozen students are selected each year in Korea, makes us question whether a small number of people have privately enjoyed the benefits of a national scholarship in the past.” She further said, “The minister nominee Kim In-chul, who concealed the fact that his family had received the scholarship, should clearly show that there was no irregularities in his family’s receiving the scholarship, and the education ministry should swiftly conduct an investigation into any problems in the operation of the Fulbright Program, into which the nation has poured billions of won.”