Saipan University founder Soon Kyung Park\u2019s defense team belittled claims about SU\u2019s \u201cmisrepresentation\u201d in its promotional campaign in China last year during the continuation of trial yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes the brochure show a swimming pool? Can you see it? Can you see a tall building? Do you see a Saipan University name on the [other] building?\u201d Park\u2019s lead counsel, former associate Justice Pedro Atalig, asked a prosecution\u2019s witness in federal court.<\/p>\n
The witness, Li Yue, 22, answered no to the questions.<\/p>\n
Li, a student recruit from Beijing, testified that Park falsely claimed that SU is equipped with facilities such as a computer room, a swimming pool, a golf course. She also said that Park told her that she would be studying her \u201cOriental Medicine IT\u201d course in a \u201ctall building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut is there any tall building here? Do you consider this a tall building?\u201d pressed Atalig, pointing to a court exhibit. On the golf course claim, Atalig asked, \u201c Do you know golf? Have you seen golf? Do you see [golf] flags here?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n
Atalig further asked the witness about the brochure material, which he described as an artist\u2019s rendition of SU. <\/p>\n
Smith, however, moved to strike Atalig\u2019s reference to the exhibit as an artist\u2019s rendition, which the court approved.<\/p>\n
The witness said that Park had told her that what she was seeing on the material was the same as the real SU. <\/p>\n
Atalig then asked the witness about her meeting with Park in Beijing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many were you in the room? How many chairs were there? Was the table round or rectangular?\u201d asked Atalig.<\/p>\n
The witness said they were using a rectangular table and there were six of them in the room, including she and Park as well as her uncle.<\/p>\n
Li testified that she was attracted to SU\u2019s offering of a four-year degree \u201cOriental Medicine IT.\u201d \u201cI really like to study this [oriental medicine],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
During direct examination, Li, through an interpreter, said that Park told her that she would be studying in a tall building. \u201cIt\u2019s a tall building where we learn medicine. He said students from Korea and Japan have enrolled and [are] studying there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said she planned to study on Saipan for four years and leave for the United States afterward. <\/p>\n
Li testified that Park promised that while she is on Saipan, she would also be working as a tour guide. \u201cI was also told that I\u2019d be working in a hospital,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
She said her family paid a total of $9,300 to Park for her enrollment at SU. \u201cI was disappointed when I arrived,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Li was the prosecution\u2019s third witness in the ongoing trial against Park.<\/p>\n
The other day, two former SU students testified that Park \u201ccheated\u201d them. They said that they were promised a study and job program on Saipan.<\/p>\n
SU has been closed and the students have been given a permit to seek temporary jobs pending the resolution of their case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saipan University founder Soon Kyung Park\u2019s defense team belittled claims about SU\u2019s \u201cmisrepresentation\u201d in its promotional campaign in China last year during the continuation of trial yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}