The Alleged Predatory Appointment and Government Cover-Up: How IEQAS Certification Enables Systematic Corporate-Academic Exploitation at Dongguk University (updated utc 09252025-0444)
165+ days of institutional silence from Dongguk University, Korean government agencies, and the Canadian Embassy in Seoul have failed to address a disturbing pattern of predatory access that reaches the highest levels of Korea's entertainment industry.
After months of documenting systematic sexual violence at Dongguk University's Graduate School of Digital Image & Contents, we have uncovered perhaps the most damning evidence yet: Tcha Sung-Jai (차성재), founder and co-CEO of Sidus FNH, leveraged his corporate position and industry connections to secure a teaching appointment as a "French instructor" at the very institution where his company maintains shared campus facilities.
This represents a calculated escalation of predatory access that transforms corporate-academic partnerships from concerning to a high-risk predatory access model.
The Smoking Gun: Corporate CEO as Campus Predator
The Documented Identity Match
According to Dongguk University's official faculty directory¹, Tcha Sung-Jai is listed as faculty in the Department of Film and Digital Media Studies with:
- Major: French Education
- Degree: Bachelor from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
- Email: tcha3369@naver.com
- Position: French language instructor (as listed on Dongguk’s faculty page)
This is the same Tcha Sung-Jai identified in The Hollywood Reporter as "Sidus FNH founder and co-CEO" and "president of the Korea Film Producers Association"².
The Perfect Predatory Setup
Dongguk University's own website reveals the systematic nature of this arrangement:
"The Department of Film and Digital Media is located in the building, so-called 'Choong-Moo-Ro Yeong-Sang Center,' in which Sidus FNH, one of the top five film production companies in Korea, is based."¹
Tcha Sung-Jai simultaneously holds:
- Corporate control: Founder/Co-CEO of Sidus FNH (the company sharing campus space)
- Academic authority: Faculty member with direct control over student grades and academic progression
- Industry gatekeeping power: Controls access to internships, jobs, and entertainment industry connections
- Industry association leadership: President of the Korea Film Producers Association, controlling industry-wide standards and networking
This creates a quadruple dependency relationship that maximizes student vulnerability and predatory access across multiple power structures.
The Industry Association Presidency: Ultimate Coercion Amplifier
Tcha's role as President of the Korea Film Producers Association represents the most insidious aspect of his predatory positioning. This industry leadership role creates systematic coercion that extends far beyond individual corporate or academic relationships:
Industry-Wide Control Mechanisms:
- Professional blacklisting power: As association president, Tcha can influence industry-wide hiring decisions and career opportunities
- Standards and ethics authority: Controls professional standards that could protect or expose students to exploitation
- Network access gatekeeping: Determines which students gain access to industry networking events, festivals, and professional opportunities
- Reputation management: Can influence how student complaints or concerns are handled across the entire industry
Amplified Coercion Effects on Students: Students understand that displeasing their "French instructor" means risking not just their grades or access to one company, but potential industry-wide career destruction. This creates:
- Perfect silence mechanisms: Students cannot report abuse without risking complete industry exclusion
- Systematic normalization: Industry association leadership legitimizes exploitative behavior as "professional standards"
- Cross-institutional influence: Tcha's association role affects opportunities at competing companies and institutions
- Legal intimidation amplification: Industry association resources can be leveraged for legal threats against students or advocates
The French Language Deception: Academic Cover for Predatory Access
Why French? The Curriculum That Makes No Sense
Our April 2025 correspondence to Dongguk University exposed the suspicious nature of their French language emphasis³:
"The program emphasizes French language, while offering no English-language training — despite English being the dominant language in global cinema: English is used in international co-productions, global grants, and film festivals. Most international film industry networking, policy discourse, and distribution occurs in English."
Questions this raises:
- Why does a Korean film program prioritize French over English when English dominates global cinema?
- How does French language instruction serve Korean students' career prospects in international film?
- Why would a telecommunications company CEO (KT acquired Sidus FNH in 2005²) be qualified to teach French language?
The Real Purpose: Creating Academic Dependency
The French language requirement serves multiple predatory functions:
- Additional dependency creation: Students need Tcha's "expertise" for academic completion
- Cultural legitimacy cover: Appeals to "sophisticated" film culture fantasies
- Isolation mechanism: Separates students from practical career preparation
- Direct access justification: Provides academic cover for one-on-one "language instruction"
As documented in our systematic analysis: "This curriculum imbalance reflects aesthetic elitism over employability and coded masculinity hidden behind 'taste' and 'tradition'"³.
The Legal Threat That Exposed the Network
Sidus Corporation's Panic Response
On May 27, 2025, Sidus Corporation, represented by Law Firm Shinwon, sent aggressive legal threats demanding retraction of our sexual violence documentation⁴. Their panic response revealed:
Contradictory Evidence:
- Sidus claimed: No campus presence for 15+ years
- Dongguk's archived website (April 8, 2025): Officially states Sidus FNH is "based" in the same building as the film department
- Corporate timeline contradiction: Sidus changed names in 2015 (10 years ago, not 15)
Why the Legal Intimidation? Sidus's aggressive response suggests they understood that exposure of their CEO's dual role would reveal the systematic nature of their predatory access operation. Their willingness to contradict public records and threaten international advocates indicates awareness of reputational and legal risk.
The Timeline of Institutional Complicity
165+ Days of Coordinated Silence
April 5, 2025: First detailed correspondence to Dongguk University documenting structural sexual violence risks and questioning the French curriculum emphasis³
April 10, 2025: Evidence of Canadian university denial emailed to seven Korean oversight bodies (MOE, NRF, KCCE, and others).¹⁹
May 3, 2025: Public call‑out on X to MOE/NRF/Korean Council for University Education demanding investigation (Korean/English).¹⁹
April 27, 2025: Canadian Embassy in Seoul notified of systematic trafficking operations⁶
May 27, 2025: Sidus legal threat reveals corporate panic about exposure⁴
July 25, 2025: Dongguk makes minor cosmetic changes to female adjunct professor profiles while maintaining all-male tenured faculty⁷
August 22, 2025: Comprehensive documentation provided to Canadian government⁸
September 23, 2025: 165+ days of complete silence from all Korean institutions and Canadian diplomatic missions
The Performative Response Pattern
Dongguk's only substantive response was implementing mandatory online sexual violence education just 8 days after receiving international pressure⁹. However, this performative measure:
- Excluded faculty training - the actual perpetrators weren't required to participate
- Changed no structural problems - Tcha remains in position, Sidus remains on campus
- Created no reporting mechanisms - students still have no safe way to report abuse
- Maintained facility sharing - corporate-academic predatory access continues unchanged
Government Agency Failures: Questions That Demand Answers
The IEQAS Certification Scandal: Government Endorsement Despite Known Risks
Most damning of all: Dongguk University maintains IEQAS (International Education Quality Assurance System) certification - the Korean government's official guarantee of safety and quality for international students - despite documented sexual violence risks and systematic partnership fraud¹⁴.
Critical Timeline Revealing Systematic Failure:
- January 20, 2025: Dongguk proudly announces IEQAS certification for 2024 cycle (valid March 2025 - February 2026)
- April 2025: Our exposé reveals structural sexual violence risks and falsified partnerships
- September 2025: IEQAS certification remains intact despite 165+ days of documented evidence
This means the same institution deemed worthy of Korean government certification was simultaneously:
- Employing a corporate CEO as faculty with obvious conflicts of interest
- Falsifying international partnerships for government funding
- Maintaining all-male faculty in high-risk departments
- Ignoring documented sexual violence prevention failures
The 300K International Student Recruitment Pressure
Korea's ambitious goal to recruit 300,000 international students by 2027 creates systematic pressure to maintain IEQAS certifications regardless of compliance¹⁴. As Korean education expert Professor Jun Hyun Hong warned: "The government is only focusing on [a] number… this is an industrial view, this is not an education view."
This recruitment pressure explains why government agencies maintain silence despite overwhelming evidence - enrollment targets trump student safety.
For KOFIC (Korean Film Council)
KOFIC oversees Korea's film industry and maintains databases of industry professionals². How did KOFIC miss these red flags:
- Conflict of Interest: Did KOFIC approve or review Tcha's triple role as industry CEO, academic instructor, and industry association president?
- Industry Association Oversight: What monitoring exists for Korea Film Producers Association presidents gaining direct academic access to students?
- Professional Standards: Does KOFIC have ethical guidelines preventing industry association leaders from leveraging positions for systematic student access?
- Cross-Institutional Influence: How does KOFIC prevent industry association presidents from using their industry-wide influence to silence student complaints or concerns?
For Ministry of Education (MOE)
MOE oversees higher education institutions and IEQAS certification. Critical questions:
- IEQAS Certification Integrity: How can Dongguk maintain IEQAS certification while employing corporate executives as faculty?
- Faculty Qualification Review: What credentials review process allowed a telecommunications/entertainment CEO to become a language instructor?
- Conflict of Interest Policies: Why don't Korean universities have policies preventing corporate executives from gaining academic authority over students?
- International Student Protection: How does MOE justify 165+ days of silence while international students face documented exploitation risks?
- 300K Target vs. Safety: Is MOE prioritizing recruitment numbers over student protection in IEQAS certification decisions?
For Dongguk University Administration
After 165+ days of silence, Dongguk must answer:
- Appointment Process: What faculty hiring process allowed Tcha's appointment despite obvious conflicts of interest?
- Ongoing Oversight: What supervision exists for faculty members who simultaneously control student industry access?
- Student Protection: What safeguards prevent corporate executives from exploiting academic authority for predatory access?
The Xiaohongshu Evidence: Victim Testimonies Confirm the Pattern
Our viral campaign on Xiaohongshu generated unprecedented victim testimony¹⁰, including:
Direct Faculty Sexual Violence:
"When I was applying for graduate school, I was interviewed by a Dongguk professor. One of the two interviewers asked questions that weren't interview questions - they were about my personal privacy. My first instinct told me to run. After being accepted, I directly withdrew."
Ongoing Exploitation:
"Last semester, a foreign student in the film program experienced sexual violence by a senior student."
These testimonies confirm that the systematic access we documented creates real victims. Tcha's dual role represents an escalation of the predatory infrastructure that enables such abuse.
International Partnership Fraud: The Broader Deception
Two Confirmed False Canadian Partnerships
Our investigation revealed systematic partnership fraud that directly undermines IEQAS certification credibility⁵:
University of British Columbia: Official partnerships page shows no listing for Dongguk University under South Korea partnerships Second Canadian University: Explicitly denied partnership and requested not to be mentioned to media or journalists
FOI Request Status: Freedom of Information request to UBC currently being processed to obtain complete documentation of any historical agreements.
The IEQAS Certification Fraud Connection
This partnership fraud exposes fundamental IEQAS system failure: Korean universities receive government funding partly based on international partnerships, yet IEQAS certification continues despite documented misrepresentation¹⁴.
The systematic deception includes:
- Financial fraud: Claiming non-existent partnerships to secure government funding
- Safety misrepresentation: Maintaining IEQAS certification while concealing structural risks
- International stakeholder deception: Using false credentials to attract vulnerable international students
This demonstrates institutional willingness to deceive international stakeholders - the same deception that conceals predatory faculty appointments from international oversight while maintaining official Korean government endorsement through IEQAS.
The Corporate-Academic Trafficking Pipeline
How the System Works
- Corporate Facility Sharing: Sidus FNH shares campus space, creating "legitimate" industry presence
- Academic Authority: CEO secures teaching position, gaining direct control over student grades and progression
- Industry Gatekeeping: Students know their "French instructor" controls access to entertainment industry opportunities
- Dual Dependency: Students must please Tcha both academically and professionally for career success
- Legal Protection: Korean defamation law criminalizes truthful testimony about abuse¹¹
The Personal Email Red Flag
Tcha's use of personal Naver email (tcha3369@naver.com) rather than institutional address reveals the infrastructure of marginalization and concealment we've documented extensively¹²:
For Male Faculty in Predatory Positions:
- Circumvents institutional oversight - communications exist outside university monitoring
- Creates plausible deniability - harder to verify official communications
- Enables misconduct concealment - private channels with students outside institutional review
International Implications: ESG and Title IX Violations
For US University Partners
This predatory appointment system creates direct Title IX compliance risks:
- Systematic deception about institutional safety and oversight
- ESG compliance violations through documented discriminatory practices enabling sexual violence
- Partnership liability for continuing relationships despite documented knowledge of predatory access
For International Students
Korean universities demonstrate calculated institutional deception:
- Maintaining recruitment fraud targeting foreign students
- Creating systematic vulnerability through corporate-academic exploitation networks
- Proving institutional capacity for concealment while choosing not to implement protective oversight
Applicable Korean Law and Legal Context (Adults)
- Rape law not consent‑based: Korea’s Penal Code definition centers on “violence or intimidation,” not lack of consent—creating prosecution gaps where power dynamics (teacher–student) replace overt force.¹⁶ A practitioner summary confirms how rape, quasi‑rape and indecent‑act provisions hinge on force or incapacity rather than affirmative consent.¹⁸
- Criminal defamation: Truthful testimony can still be criminally punished unless “solely for the public interest,” chilling victims and witnesses and enabling retaliation by powerful actors.¹⁷
We focus on governance and safeguards rather than adjudicating criminal liability. The evidence presented concerns institutional structures and documentation (appointments, directories, archived pages, legal correspondence), not adjudicated crimes.
The Broader Pattern: Elite Protection Networks
Parallels to Epstein Networks
This corporate-academic exploitation model mirrors elite protection dynamics documented in other systematic abuse cases:
- Elite social networks protecting wealthy perpetrators through institutional positioning
- Legal system capture using defamation law to criminalize victim testimony
- International scope operating across borders while avoiding accountability
- Institutional legitimacy using academic and corporate credentials to access victims
Korean Advantage Over Other Networks:
- Direct government protection through institutional silence and legal frameworks
- Official certification shield: IEQAS certification provides government endorsement despite documented risks¹⁴
- Cultural legitimacy shield using Korean Wave appeal to deflect criticism
- Economic integration into legitimate business and academic culture
- International recruitment pressure: 300K student target creates systematic incentive to ignore safety issues
The IEQAS System as Elite Protection Infrastructure
The compromised IEQAS certification system functions as sophisticated elite protection:
- Government legitimacy: Official Korean certification deflects international scrutiny
- Systematic concealment: Maintains certification despite documented partnership fraud and sexual violence risks
- International deception: Uses government credentials to attract vulnerable foreign students
- Accountability avoidance: 165+ days of silence despite concrete evidence demonstrates institutional capture
Conclusion: The Alleged Predatory Appointment Exposed
Tcha Sung-Jai's quadruple role as Sidus FNH CEO, Dongguk University French instructor, and Korea Film Producers Association President represents the most sophisticated predatory access operation we have documented. By leveraging corporate influence, industry association leadership, and academic authority simultaneously, he created unprecedented systematic control over vulnerable students seeking entertainment industry careers.
The evidence is overwhelming:
- Corporate-academic facility sharing creating systematic access
- Questionable credential alignment and appointment rationale for language instruction unrelated to career prospects
- Legal intimidation campaigns to silence documentation
- 165+ days of institutional protection despite international exposure
- Victim testimonies confirming the systematic nature of exploitation
- IEQAS certification maintained despite documented fraud and safety failures¹⁴
Critical Questions for Korean Authorities:
- How did government oversight fail to prevent a corporate CEO from gaining academic authority over students?
- Why does IEQAS certification remain intact despite documented partnership fraud and sexual violence risks?
- Is Korea's 300K international student recruitment target causing systematic compromise of safety standards?
- What investigation will Korean authorities conduct into systematic predatory access operations?
- When will international partners receive honest disclosure about institutional safety failures?
The choice is clear for international institutions: Continue enabling systematic exploitation through partnership silence, or demand immediate accountability and protective oversight for vulnerable students.
Every day of continued silence makes international partners complicit in a predatory system that uses academic legitimacy to facilitate systematic abuse of the students they claim to protect.
Sources and Documentation
| ¹ Dongguk University Faculty Directory - Department of Film and Digital Media (live) | Archived capture (2025-09-23) |
¹³ KOFIC Company Entry: Sidus FNH (confirms KT acquisition context)
³ Gender Watchdog: Email to Dongguk University - April 5, 2025
⁴ Gender Watchdog: Sidus Legal Threat Backfires - Evidence of Corporate Panic
⁵ Gender Watchdog: Second Falsified Partnership - UBC Investigation
⁶ Gender Watchdog Twitter: Canadian Government Silence Documentation
⁷ Gender Watchdog: Visual Ping Catches Dongguk in Real-Time Tokenism
⁸ Gender Watchdog Twitter Thread: Canadian Government Silence
⁹ Gender Watchdog: 8 Days From Exposure to Damage Control
¹⁰ Gender Watchdog: Viral Xiaohongshu Post Exposes Sexual Violence Crisis
¹¹ Korea Economic Institute: Problems with Korea's Defamation Law
¹² Gender Watchdog: Hidden Channels - Personal Email Use in Academia
¹⁶ Human Rights Watch: South Korea Cancels Plans to Update Definition of Rape (consent standard)
¹⁷ Korea Economic Institute: Problems with Korea’s Defamation Law
¹⁸ Seoul Law Group practitioner summary of sexual crimes and definitions
¹⁹ Gender Watchdog: May 3, 2025 oversight call‑out (tweet) – referencing April 10 submissions
This analysis is part of our ongoing documentation of systematic institutional failures in Korean child protection and corporate-academic exploitation networks. For comprehensive documentation, visit genderwatchdog.org.
| *Supported by: End Rape on Campus | Regular updates provided to Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), End Rape on Campus (EROC), and RAINN* |