SEOUL—The Seoul Western District appellate court has confirmed the ruling against the South Korean professor sentenced last March for faking a Yale doctorate and embezzling museum funds, the Associated Press reports. Shin Jeon-ah will serve 18 months in jail for using her fake degree to obtain a professorship at Seoul's Dongguk University and get financial sponsorship at a museum where she worked. She has seven days to appeal.

Dongguk University also filed suit against Yale, seeking at least $50 million in damages because Yale wrongly confirmed Shin's degree. The American university has called the mistake an administrative error and apologized.

Amid the fake degree scandal, it was discovered that Shin had a romantic relationship with former presidential aide Byeon Yang-kyoon, who allegedly used his influence to get her hired at Dongguk. Byeon resigned and was convicted of helping to provide state tax benefits to a Buddhist temple founded by a former Dongguk official who helped hire Shin as a professor. Byeon was sentenced to a suspended one-year jail term and 160 hours of community service. The appellate court confirmed the ruling.