A Korean literature professor at Yonsei University came under fire for demanding students buy his books or fail his class.

Ma Kwang-soo, a renowned advocate of sexual liberation and author of several lewd novels, directed students attending his “Literature and Sexuality” class to buy his two books and attach the receipts to their mid-term reports. Those who did not comply would be denied a grade, the professor was quoted as saying by students.

The assignment triggered widespread criticism from the students.

“I don’t think it is necessary to buy all reference books to attend a lecture. We can borrow them from the library or from friends,” a student from the school wrote on the online community site seioyon.net.

Another student claimed that Ma repeatedly told the class to purchase his books as they were not selling well.

The outspoken professor insisted that it was right to have students buy his books.

“Students nowadays don’t care about spending money on watching a movie or having a coffee, but they are stingy with purchasing books,” Ma told Yonhap News Agency.

“(Literature and Sexuality) is an optional course and I made it clear to students in a notice about the assessment measure before they chose my class,” he added, noting that he would not change his mind despite the growing criticism.

Ma was largely in the limelight during the 1990s with his controversial novels for which he was charged with obscenity. He was imprisoned in 1995 for writing “Happy Sara,” which was ruled pornographic by the Supreme Court. He was reinstated at the university in 1998, but left due to health problems, returning in 2004.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)