Lee Beom-soo focuses on ‘Crime City 4’

Actor Lee Beom-soo, who was dismissed from his position as dean of the department, eventually voluntarily resigned from his position as a professor. It has been 55 days since the controversy over allegations of abuse of power against students arose.

According to Shinhan University on the 31st, Beomsoo Lee submitted his resignation on the 27th due to 'personal reasons'. Beomsoo Lee has served as Dean of the Department of Performing Arts at Shinhan University since 2014.

It is reported that the university is considering whether to accept the resignation letter as it is still investigating the allegations raised against Beom-soo Lee and has not decided on disciplinary action.

The exact reason why Lee Beom-soo submitted his resignation letter has not been revealed, but it appears to be an aftereffect of recently raised suspicions. In November last year, suspicions arose that Beomsoo Lee discriminated against and abused the students he taught.

Mr. A, who was a performing arts student at Shinhan University at the time, claimed that Beomsoo Lee divided the students into rich and poor classes and discriminated against students in the poor class at auditions.

In addition, Beomsu Lee unilaterally changed the class time to fit his movie shooting schedule. Controversy arose because it was carried out in a notification manner without seeking proper understanding from students and schools.

As the scheduled class days were not enough, I started taking supplementary classes late. I sometimes scheduled classes on weekends according to my schedule, and sometimes continued lectures until the early morning rush hour stopped. Lee Beom-soo's associates labeled this as "due to excessive passion," but he was just a professor who broke countless promises he made to his students.

As the controversy grew, Shinhan University President Kang Seong-jong said in a statement sent to students and faculty, “We will conduct a full investigation into abuse of power and class management within the university.” Afterwards, the school's Human Rights Center and the Legal Audit Office conducted an investigation into whether students were victims of abuse of power and class progress, but have not yet announced a conclusion.

On the afternoon of the 31st, lawyer Kim Bo-kyung of the law firm YK, who is acting as legal representative, told OSEN, "In the beginning, Shinhan University knew there would be additional reports or victims and responded strongly with a knife drawn, but there has not been a single case so far. “This is a fact,” he said. “In this situation, it has become inconvenient for Professor Beom-soo Lee to continue working at Shinhan University. Now, the school should announce the results of the audit or talk about if there are additional victims, but we are also in a frustrating situation because there are only anonymous reports.” “I hope the truth will be revealed as soon as possible and everything will be concluded,” he said, expressing his frustration.

Most students and graduates of Shinhan University's Department of Performing Arts entered the school with the dream of becoming actors. Even if you are dissatisfied with Professor Beomsu Lee, you cannot easily voice your dissatisfaction. No matter how anonymous the report is, it is impossible not to be concerned about the 'Lee Beom-soo controversy' that has already been plastered all over portal sites.

Before Beomsu Lee is a professor, he is a veteran actor with 34 years of experience since his debut. He is a huge star who rarely takes a break, as he is currently appearing in the movie 'Crime City 4'. Even if there had actually been complaints in front of Beomsu Lee, it would not have been easy to report additional information.

Now, even before the results of Shinhan University's audit, Beomsu Lee himself has resigned from his position as a professor. Beomsoo Lee indirectly expressed his frustration through his lawyer, but it was only the students and Shinhan University who suffered damage from this controversy. Shinhan University's image deteriorated day by day, making it difficult to build it up again.

You may think that Beomsoo Lee has stepped down from his professorship 'at least now', but wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he stepped down 'now and belatedly'? In the past 55 days, everyone at Shinhan University has become the biggest victim thanks to Beomsu Lee.

Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr