By Lee Kyung-min



A Seoul National University (SNU) mathematics professor is being questioned for allegedly sexually harassing a woman who worked as an intern during the 2014 International Congress for Mathematicians in August.



The professor, whose name was withheld, was a member of the event's organizing committee and was one of the speakers during the forum.



According to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, the professor is suspected of groping the intern after making her sit on his lap on a bench at a park near the Han River on July 28.



They were both mildly drunk from an after-work gathering, the prosecution said.



The professor insisted that he hosted the gathering to cheer up the intern because she looked discouraged.



"With only a few weeks left before the forum started, we were all stressed out. I berated her a bit severely for her mistakes, and she sent me text messages, in which I thought she was being too hard on herself. So we gathered to drink and talk it out," the professor was quoted as saying by the prosecution.



After the drinking, the woman walked the professor home, and they stopped for a break at a riverside bench.



The student quit the next day saying, "I am shocked. I cannot work for you anymore," according to the prosecution.



An SNU official who declined to be named said that any punishment will be determined depending on the court ruling.



"The case is being investigated, so nothing is proven yet. Of course, a disciplinary committee will be formed if he is found guilty," the official said.



According to related laws, the head of a school can take punitive measures against a professor if he or she is indicted, or the disciplinary committee has asked for the person's punishment; or the person is deemed unfit to carry out the duties required of him; or the person's demeanor is deemed inappropriate for an educator.



The committee can either dismiss or suspend personnel, and the punishment is delivered within 60 days from the day a disciplinary committee is formed.



In September, a similar case of professorial misconduct was reported at Sookmyung Women's University,



Two music professors, Yoon Young-sook and Hong Sue-youn, verbally abused the composition students for years, and the disciplinary committee banned them from teaching on Oct. 17.



