Yonsei University Launches Investigation into Minister Hwang Hee's Alleged Plagiarism of Doctoral Dissertation

Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Yonsei University is launching an investigation into Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee's doctoral dissertation.

On the 28th, according to the Judicial Examination Preparation Student Association (Sajunmo) and others, Yonsei University sent a response to the Ministry of Education stating its intention to investigate the doctoral dissertation obtained by Minister Hwang based on the regulations of the Research Ethics and Integrity Committee.

On the 8th of this month, Sajunmo filed a petition with the Ministry of Education requesting verification of Minister Hwang's doctoral dissertation. Sajunmo raised suspicions regarding passages that appear to be mere translations of existing Korean research reports into English, the incorrect title of the dissertation, the questionable validity of the statistical analysis, and the fact that the dissertation was written in Korean and then translated by a proxy.

The Ministry of Education forwarded the petition to Yonsei University to verify the facts and received a reply. Yonsei University reportedly also stated that if a degree was obtained through fraudulent means, the university president may cancel the degree award after deliberation by the graduate school committee.

Minister Hwang rebutted the claim that he plagiarized a research report written by his advisor during his candidacy by directly translating it into English, saying, "Since it was my advisor, it was inevitable that our thoughts and concerns were similar," and "(I) have never seen the (research report)."