Bogus degree scandal sweeps S.Korea

South Korea's top universities said this week they will set up a system to detect academic fraud after a disc jockey, a revered Buddhist monk and an ageing actress were swept up in a fake degree scandal.

The hunt for bogus academic credentials heated up in July when the director of one of the country's most celebrated ceramics shows - a young professor dubbed the "art world's Cinderella" for her rapid rise - was found to have faked her degrees from Yale University and the University of Kansas.

Since then, many universities, employers and dating services have launched background checks, while local media reports have been filled with mea culpas of noted Koreans saying they padded their resumes.