Kookmin University Launches Investigation into Allegations Surrounding Yoon Seok-yeol's Wife's Doctoral Dissertation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Kookmin University has launched an investigation into whether there was any misconduct in the doctoral dissertation of Kim Gun-hee (formerly named Kim Myung-shin), the wife of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

According to Kookmin University on the 7th, the university recently formed a Research Ethics Committee to investigate allegations of research misconduct related to Kim's doctoral dissertation.

The Research Ethics Committee is an organization established when the school recognizes that there is a problem with a thesis. If the preliminary investigation finds issues, a full investigation will be initiated.

Kim wrote her dissertation in 2008 titled "A Study on the Development of Fortune-telling Content Using Avatars: Focusing on the Development and Market Application of 'Anita'," through which she earned her doctorate from the Graduate School of Techno Design.

The university is also reportedly investigating other academic papers by Kim, including a 2007 paper published in the "Korea Design Forum" titled "A Study on User Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction of Online Fortune-telling Content and Its Impact on Member Retention and Withdrawal."

This paper sparked controversy for translating the Korean term for "member retention" as "member Yuji" in English. Professor Jeon Seung-gyu of the Graduate School of Techno Design served as Kim's advisor for this paper.