Author Kim Min-jung claims her novel 'Ppuri' was plagiarized [Image source = Screenshot from author Kim Min-jung's Facebook]
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Kim Min-jung, the author of the novel "Ppuri" which won the 2018 Baekma Culture Award, expressed her frustration, claiming that a man who plagiarized her novel swept various literary contests. Following Kim's allegations, suspicions arose online that this man's "plagiarized awards" were not isolated incidents.
On the 16th, Kim Min-jung explained on her SNS, "I learned through a tip-off that the entire text of my novel 'Ppuri' was used without permission, and that the person who plagiarized my novel won awards in as many as five literary contests in 2020."
She continued, "This is a clear case of 'theft,' where the submission copied the novel from beginning to end, going beyond mere similarity in phrases or paragraphs," adding, "The person who plagiarized my work received five literary awards: the Newcomer Award at the 16th Saggye Kim Jang-saeng Literary Award, the Grand Prize in the university division at the 2020 Pocheon 38 Literary Award, an Honorable Mention at the 7th Gyeongbuk Ilbo Literary Contest, the Winner at the 2nd Glory Senior New Year's Literary Contest, and the Newcomer Award in the 2021 New Year's issue of the quarterly magazine 'Novel Aesthetics.'"
She further stated, "The only imaginative change this person made in the plagiarized novel was renaming 'hospital' in my original sentences to 'Pocheon Hospital' in the Gyeongbuk Ilbo Literary Contest and the Pocheon 38 Literary Award," and added, "Literature is a field where even a few lines of similar sentences raise plagiarism suspicions. Without deep thought and reflection, one cannot even dare to write the first sentence. However, due to this incident, I have lost not just sentences or narrative, but the entire novel," expressing her frustration.
The novel by writer Kim, who won the 'Baekma Literary Award' in 2018 (above), and the male author's piece published in the 2020 literary magazine 'Soseol Mihag' (below). The content is exactly the same, with only the author's name differing. [Image source = Screenshot from an online community]
Kim also criticized the organizers who awarded the plagiarized works without minimal review.
Kim said, "This case of wholesale plagiarism of a novel is a serious issue that should serve as a wake-up call beyond literature to the entire creative community," and added, "Regardless of the scale of the literary award, works designated as winners require appropriate plagiarism and theft checks. 'Ppuri' was a work that won the 2018 Baekma Culture Award, and its full text is posted online, so a simple Google search of the sentences reveals the entire content. This indicates a lack of even the most basic guidelines for plagiarism and theft checks in literary awards."
She also stated, "What was stolen from me is not just printed words but a piece of myself," and added, "I am writing this to protect myself."
Meanwhile, the man accused of plagiarizing Kim's novel is a figure who has won multiple literary awards and has appeared several times in media outlets. In August, after winning a quarterly literary award, he gave an interview saying, "I did not major in Korean literature or creative writing at university, nor do I have deep knowledge of novels, but I write novels bit by bit every night, quenching my literary thirst and gaining great pride," and expressed gratitude to his family and acquaintances who gave him courage and support to write.
Since writer Kim raised suspicions, posts alleging other suspicions about this man have been steadily appearing online. [Image source = Online community capture]
As the controversy spread, posts accusing him of being the "Korean version of 'Catch Me If You Can'" appeared online, stating, "Besides plagiarism in literary awards, this man's background is very flashy."
Netizens alleged that in 2018, this man plagiarized a business plan registered on the online assignment trading site 'Happy Campus' and won an excellence award, and also won awards with plagiarized works in contests such as the Gangwon-do Tourism Policy Idea Contest and the Patent Attorneys Association Essay Contest.
Other netizens raised issues not only about novel plagiarism but also about this man's academic credential forgery and false interviews.
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