Candidate Kim In-cheol resigns 20 days after nomination... "Worried about family's future being sold out" (Comprehensive Report 2)

First Ministerial Candidate Falls in Yoon Seok-yeol Government
Decisive Blow from Allegations of Hospitality During Student 'Bangseokjip' Thesis Review
"I Want to Eliminate the Harshness of Summoning Students for Hearings"

Following the 'On Family Scholarship' benefits, Kim In-cheol, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education nominee who is facing allegations of plagiarism in his student's thesis, is expressing his intention to resign on the 3rd in front of the nominee's office set up at the Korea Educational Facilities Safety Institute in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kim In-cheol, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education nominee, voluntarily resigned on the 3rd. This came 20 days after his nomination on the 13th of last month, marking the first resignation among ministerial nominees in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

On the 3rd, Kim held a press conference at the Education Facility Safety Institute in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "I wanted to give back the benefits I received from the nation and society through my final service, but I was greatly lacking. I will not offer any excuses. All of this is my fault and mistake," and announced his resignation.

Kim said, "I am deeply sorry to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who trusted me and entrusted me with an important responsibility. I will support the success of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration from afar. Once again, I apologize and ask for the understanding of the people."

Regarding his reason for resignation, Kim explained, "There was a concern that even my family's future could be completely slandered," and "I wanted to stop the harshness of summoning even my beloved students to testify at the confirmation hearings."

Although Kim had actively explained various allegations, he ultimately decided to resign after allegations of plagiarism in his thesis and testimonies about receiving entertainment during the thesis review process surfaced. It was revealed that during the review of a doctoral thesis by his student Lee, Kim, as the advisor, approved and received entertainment at a high-end restaurant known as ‘Bangseokjip’.

In his autobiography, Lee mentioned that after the thesis was approved, "the madam and the ladies moved to a tavern and celebrated until 3 a.m." Additional allegations arose that Lee plagiarized the thesis and published it in an academic journal.

It was also revealed that Kim’s son worked as a research assistant at the National Assembly Research Service from January to February 2016, and at that time, the head of the Research Service was a professor who served as a judge when Kim’s son was selected as a Fulbright scholar.

Since his nomination, Kim has faced various allegations including ▲ accounting fraud during his tenure as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies ▲ providing special academic credits to professional golfers ▲ conducting a full survey to identify wealthy parents ▲ self-approval of concurrent positions as an outside director of large corporations ▲ and providing foundation scholarships to his entire family while serving as president of the Fulbright Alumni Association.