[2022 National Audit] Education Committee Turned into 'Kim Geon-hee Audit'... Ministry of Education Says "Thesis Verification Is University Responsibility"

Suspicion of Proxy Signing in PhD Dissertation Review Process Raised
"Professor Jeon Seung-gyu Used Stamp Only Twice from 2007 to 2009"
Allegations of Thesis Forgery Before Reappointment After PhD
PhD Revoked at Kookmin University Over Moon Dae-sung's Plagiarism...Criticism of 'Double Standards'
Ruling Party Counters with Plagiarism Allegations Against Cho Kuk and Lee Jae-myung

Jang Sang-yoon, Vice Minister of Education, is attending the full meeting of the Education Committee held at the National Assembly on the 9th, providing a work report. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] As the opposition party launched an offensive over allegations of plagiarism and forgery in First Lady Kim Geon-hee's thesis, the Education Committee's national audit turned into a 'Kim Geon-hee audit.' Regarding the controversy over the inadequate thesis review, the Ministry of Education drew a line by stating that verification related to research ethics is the responsibility of the university.

At the National Assembly Education Committee's national audit on the 4th, opposition lawmakers raised suspicions of proxy signatures and thesis forgery during the review process of First Lady Kim Geon-hee's doctoral thesis, as well as allegations of double standards in thesis verification by Kookmin University.

Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jung-bok pointed out the seal stamped on Kim's thesis approval document, saying, "Looking at the seal of Professor Jeon Seung-gyu, Kim's thesis advisor at Kookmin University, the seal in Chinese characters was used exclusively from 2007 to 2009, but unusually, in December 2007, a wooden seal was stamped."

Moon said, "Among the second semester theses in December 2007, only Kim's thesis and Mr. Park's thesis used that seal (wooden seal)," adding, "It can only be inferred that Kookmin University carved and stamped the seal on Kim Geon-hee's thesis that day. It raises suspicion that some reviewers did not attend the thesis review, and Professor Jeon might not have attended at all."

Moon also pointed out, "The Kookmin University Techno Design Graduate School has awarded 1,204 degrees over 21 years from 2001 to recently, averaging 60 master's and doctoral degrees annually, so a full investigation into research ethics violations is necessary," adding, "There were clearly forged thesis review seals."

In response, Vice Minister Jang Sang-yoon said, "You mentioned that the seal stamped at the same time in 2007 is unique only on Kim's thesis. We confirmed whether it was processed according to regulations, checked participation intentions, and received the seal accordingly."

Jang Sang-yoon, Vice Minister of Education, attends the full meeting of the Education Committee held at the National Assembly on the 9th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

There were also criticisms that Kookmin University applied a double standard by issuing a plagiarism judgment after reviewing Moon Dae-sung's doctoral thesis plagiarism allegations but leaving Kim Geon-hee's thesis as is.

Democratic Party lawmaker Do Jong-hwan pointed out, "The introduction, research hypothesis, research methods, and results are identical, and a significant portion was copied without citing sources, including typos," adding, "Both are Kookmin University theses, and verification was conducted five years later based on research ethics regulations. The detailed plagiarism content is almost the same, but the degree of plagiarism in Mr. Moon's thesis is much more severe."

Do said, "Article 2, Paragraph 1 of Kookmin University's Research Ethics Committee regulations defines plagiarism as 'the act of using another person's ideas, research content, and results without proper approval or citation,'" and criticized, "Mr. Moon copied not only ideas, research content, and results but also the English abstract, research necessity and purpose, research hypothesis, theoretical review, survey methods, research results, and conclusions entirely, so isn't this plagiarism?"

Do also criticized the Ministry of Education for the sluggish progress in revising research ethics guidelines. The guidelines include a provision allowing the Minister of Education to request verification from specialized institutions if deemed necessary for the public interest in promoting scholarship. After an administrative notice in February and a re-notice in April, no revision has been made yet.

In response, Vice Minister Jang said, "We submitted it to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, but there was a part considered regulation, so we are conducting an internal regulatory review."

Allegations of thesis forgery related to Kim Geon-hee's 2009 thesis, overlapping with her reappointment at Korea Polytechnic University after obtaining her doctorate, were also raised. Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Dong-yong pointed out, "The paper titled 'The Effect of Satisfaction and Repurchase Factors of Golf Practice Ranges,' published in the Korean Journal of Physical Education in 2008 under Kim Geon-hee's name, was disguised as 'The Effect of Satisfaction with Digital Content on Repurchase Factors,' published in the Korean Design Forum in 2009," adding, "The English abstract, main text, and references are almost identical except for the introduction."

The survey results of 400 golf practice range users in the 2008 paper were used as survey results of digital content mall users. In the golf practice range paper, the survey respondents were 182 men and 108 women out of 290, but in Kim's digital content paper, it was recorded as 108 men and 182 women.

Seo emphasized, "They fabricated satisfaction with digital content as if it were satisfaction with golf practice ranges, as if they conducted a survey and analysis that were never done. Creating false original research data is called 'forgery,' which is the most serious research misconduct," adding, "This goes beyond plagiarism, which uses others' theses without citation or with partial modification; it is a forged thesis that fabricates nonexistent experimental research."

Yoo Ki-hong, Chairman of the National Assembly Education Committee, is presiding over the full meeting of the Education Committee held at the National Assembly on the 9th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Ruling party lawmakers argued that political interference in plagiarism allegations against private individuals' theses is excessive. They countered by citing plagiarism allegations against former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.

Lee Tae-gyu, the ruling party's whip, said, "There has never been any public funding involved, so is there any other country where political power intervenes excessively?" adding, "If you pick only the articles about plagiarism controversies involving the Democratic Party, they pile up like a mountain. Former Minister Cho Kuk said during his plagiarism controversy that 'the bad practice of using plagiarism as an attack tool should disappear,' and I hope the ruling party also considers this."

Ruling party lawmaker Jung Kyung-hee said, "Regarding former Minister Cho Kuk's thesis, plagiarism allegations were raised four times since 2013. Each time, Seoul National University's Research Integrity Committee found violations but gave a pass, citing them as minor," adding, "In Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's master's thesis, 24 out of 77 pages were entirely plagiarized, and plagiarized sentences appeared on 49 pages, but the Ministry of Education said that universities are responsible for verifying theses."