A college employee is facing investigation after installing a host of cryptocurrency mining hardware in an empty classroom, a local media outlet reported Tuesday.

According to Hankook Ilbo, a photo of the mining hardware was posted Monday on a community Facebook page for members of a national university in Gangwon Province where the employee works.

In response, the employee placed a post on the Facebook page on Tuesday, claiming that the hardware has been used not for generating private profits but for research purposes.

An official from the university told the paper that the employee will face an internal investigation over the hardware installed in a classroom.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)