The daughter (17) of justice minister nominee Han Dong-hoon paid to have a consultant specializing in U.S. college admissions correct her English essays for a year when she was a member of A, a group run by the consultant, which she joined when she was in the nineth grade at an international school. When the press covered the experiences of Han’s daughter suggesting that they were intended for her application to universities in the U.S., Han’s representative said, “The eldest daughter of the nominee never received any consulting from a consulting firm for overseas studies.” But it turned out that she paid to have her English essays corrected for a year from an expert consultant.

According to the coverage by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on May 5, a student must fall within the top 10% in her grade in the previous school year (or semester) or get SAT and GPA of 3.8 and higher in order to join A, located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. She must submit a grade transcript including academic standings from her school and a referral from a school teacher, along with records of all kinds of activities, prizes and awards. The group is open to middle and high school students, who undergo a careful screening process to be accepted as members. When a student becomes a member, she has to pay a membership fee of 400,000 won. Members get their English essays reviewed twice a month for forty minutes a session at a monthly price of 150,000 won.

The group regularly publishes 600-700 copies of an English journal, Unseen, twice a year (summer, winter). According to the introduction posted on the consultant’s personal blog, “Essays written according to the standards are regularly published as booklets and used in a campaign to expand awareness.” The group also organizes a leadership camp to enhance the students’ knowledge in humanities. They added hashtags, such as study in the U.S., preparing for U.S. college admissions, activities that help you get into a U.S. university, special activities for U.S. college admissions, training for teenage leaders, etc. Basically, the aim is to enter a prestigious university in the U.S.

Han’s daughter took part as a member of the group for a year after joining on May 5, 2020 when she was in nineth grade at an international school. During that time, she had her essay published in the English journal twice. This is also when Han’s daughter published English articles on a website that about a dozen teenage writers including Han’s daughter created. The first article that Han’s daughter posted on this website was one on climate change published on August 25, 2020.

B, the representative of this group told the reporter over the phone, “I remember that her mother (Han’s wife) called and asked for information. We published the summer issue almost as soon as she (Han’s daughter) joined, and her writing was average compared with the other students.” B added, “Some students find us through mutual acquaintances, but they also come after visiting my blog.” B’s blog states that B provides consulting services to enter a university in the U.S. It also says that the sooner the student prepares for U.S. college admissions the better she can prepare for the admission process and the more she can spread out the work that needs to be done. The blog also said that it provided a total of seventeen types of consulting services including an analysis of one’s academic achievements (GPA, SAT, etc.), brainstorming for the main essay, final proofreading of the main essay and all short essays, etc.

When asked if the group’s activities were intended to provide students with experiences they could state in their U.S. university applications, B said, “How the students use what was published in the English journal is up to the students. I only created the group to help students study in a meaningful way in terms of education.”

Earlier, when a press report suggested that Han’s daughter sought consulting services to enter a U.S university, that same day, Han refuted the report. His representative said, “The article spoke as if Han’s daughter received professional consulting on college admissions, but the nominee’s eldest daughter never received consulting services from a consulting firm for overseas studies.”

When the Kyunghyang Shinmun asked Han how the latest discovery was consistent with his argument that his daughter never sought professional consulting services to enter a U.S. university, his representative answered, “The nominee’s daughter never received any consulting services on college admissions from A (and there’s nothing wrong in receiving such services either), but she did have her essay-like English compositions corrected for a fee of over 100,000 won a month.”