Shim Hwa-jin (born December 24, 1956) is a South Korean academic specialising in the history of clothing and textiles.

[2] After her reappointment as president for the third term, four members of the university's student association raised concerns that Shim had embezzled funds from the school, which led to their suspension in January 2016.

[3] Meanwhile, investigative journalists found that a prominent individual's daughter had been admitted to Sungshin after cheating in the assessment,[4] in addition to a relative of Shim's being appointed as a tenure-track lecturer on the basis of a plagiarised dissertation.

[5] On 7 February 2017, the Seoul Northern District Court returned a guilty verdict for embezzling 378 million won from school funds.

[6] In response to the ruling, Shim's husband resigned from his position on the campaign team for presidential candidate Moon Jae-in, claiming that, if his wife was corrupt, he, "would shoot her with a pistol.