This academic was appointed at Indonesia’s Asian Cyber University
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 9, 2019 at 05:25
- Updated on September 9, 2019 at 11:24
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
One post was published here on Facebook on August 27, 2019. It has since been shared more than 460 times.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
Translated to English, the post caption reads:
“AN ABUSE TO THE NATIONAL EDUCATION!!
“And all of you intellectuals who worship Jae, are you still closing your eyes and ears for your pride on his modest figure??
Jang Youn Cho (Korea) First Foreign Rector in Indonesia
“Research, technology and higher education minister Mohamad Nasir officially appointed Foreign Rector to lead the Jakarta State University.
Jang Youn has officially worked in UNJ.
“So, starting from now, a university in Indonesia can be led by a foreign rector, said Nasir during the opening of 2019 National Coordination Meeting for Innovation at Grand Inna Bali Beach Hotel, Denpasar, Monday (26/8/2019).”
“Jae” is a mocking reference to Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo used by supporters of his political opponent, Prabowo Subianto, as explained in this Indonesian-language article.
The misleading claim has also been shared in other Facebook posts here, here and here.
Jang Youn Cho is taking a senior management position at an Indonesian university, but news reports show he has been appointed to lead a different Jakarta-based university.
Indonesian media outlet Detik reported on Cho’s appointment as head of the online Asian Cyber University here on August 26, 2019.
The report's first paragraph translates to English as: “Research, technology and higher education minister Mohamad Nasir introduced a foreign rector of Asian Cyber University from South Korea in Bali. He hopes the presence of a foreign rector will be able to improve the quality of higher education in Indonesia.”
The report also states: “Asian Cyber University is a collaboration between National University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Korea. The foreign rector he introduced was Jang Youn Cho.”
Cho’s bio can be seen on Hankuk University’s website here and on National University’s website here.
A reverse image search on Google found the photo of Jang Youn Cho also appeared alongside this August 29, 2019, article by local media outlet Tribunnews under the headline: “This Is the First Foreign Rector Recruited by Jokowi Administration”.
The photo above was credited to the National University website and can be found in a March 27, 2018, post, here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
