"Dr. Seong-Kyung Jo, 1st Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Self-Plagiarism in Doctoral Dissertation"

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Cho Seong-gyeong, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, is delivering a greeting at the 'Celebration Event for the Successful Operation of the Danuri Mission and the Spectacular 365 Exhibition of Danuri' held on December 26 last year at Lotte World Tower Seoul Sky in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cho Seong-gyeong, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has been accused of self-plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation.

The Korean University Professors Association (KUPA) and the Korean University Professors Solidarity Union (Professors Solidarity) stated in a press release on the 17th that the paper Cho submitted to obtain his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Korea University in 2012 had a plagiarism rate of 48% compared to a paper he published in an academic journal in 2011.

KUPA and Professors Solidarity, which represent 6,000 full professors and lecturers, claimed that Cho received his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Korea University in February 2012 with a dissertation titled "A Study on Schema Types of Energy Mix Stakeholders," and that this dissertation showed a 48% plagiarism rate compared to a paper he published three months earlier, in October 2011, in the journal "Subjectivity Studies" of the Korean Society for Subjectivity Research. The plagiarism rate is calculated by determining plagiarism if two or more sentences contain identical phrases of six or more words.

They stated, "The paper published in the journal is a carbon copy of Cho’s doctoral dissertation at Korea University," and added, "Such plagiarism is strictly prohibited by Korea University and the Ministry of Education, but this act of plagiarism appears to have been done intentionally."

They also pointed out that the connection between the academic paper and the doctoral dissertation, as well as the citation of references, were deliberately omitted, saying, "Even if Cho claimed to have cited his own paper in the dissertation, since the content is not just similar in some vocabulary but the entire sentences are identical, it cannot be denied as self-plagiarism."

Cho earned bachelor's degrees in Food Resources and Journalism and Broadcasting from Korea University, a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering from Ajou University in 2003, and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Korea University in 2012. In May 2022, he served as the Science and Technology Secretary at the Presidential Office’s Economic Secretariat, and was appointed as the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT in June last year, gaining a reputation as a powerful vice minister.

They demanded, "Immediately dismiss Vice Minister Cho and conduct plagiarism verification and audits at all related universities." In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT has announced it will clarify its position regarding the plagiarism controversy involving Vice Minister Cho.

Meanwhile, although there was controversy over reports that Cho illegally reported the use of business promotion expenses, he explained that it was not for personal use.