Professor Accused of Paper Manipulation: Family Calls It "Result of Coercive Investigation"... Police Deny

Bereaved family: "Police kept wrongfully pressuring"
Police: "Did not conduct coercive investigation"

A professor at a university in Jeonbuk, who was under investigation for alleged paper fabrication, was ultimately found dead, and the bereaved family and students expressed their grievances, claiming that "the deceased died due to coercive investigation."

On the 22nd, the professor's wife, Moon (46), and students held a press conference in front of the Jeonbuk Police Agency, asserting, "The police drove my husband to the brink of death without proper investigation, fitting him into a predetermined framework." Moon said, "My husband, who earned his doctorate in Germany, had his research published in a world-renowned academic journal and came to the university. Although he had other job opportunities, he came to his alma mater out of a sense of duty to teach his students, but he died because of false reports from a fellow professor."

She continued, "The case involving my husband was referred to the prosecution three times by the police, and the prosecutor in charge changed three times as well. Despite submitting defense statements and clarifying all suspicions for over three years, the police kept accusing him of wrongdoing. My husband found it difficult even to go to work at the university and eventually developed panic disorder," she appealed.

A professor at a national university in Jeonbuk, who had been under police investigation for alleged research misconduct, was found dead. On the 22nd, the deceased professor's family and students held a press conference in front of the Jeonbuk Police Agency, stating that the investigation was unfair. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Moon also claimed that the police conducted illegal investigation methods. She recalled, "When the police seized my husband's mobile phone, they demanded, 'Write down the password.' When we protested, asking if they could take it without any explanation, the officer said, 'Isn't the warrant issued by the judge instructing us to do so?'"

Moon emphasized, "During the investigation, we requested that the police question other professors or students (besides the informant) as witnesses, and they agreed to be investigated, but the police told the prosecutor that 'the witnesses are not coming,' which led to my husband's eventual detention. This case is the result of coercive investigation by the police aimed at killing one person."

In response, the Jeonbuk Police Agency held a briefing and refuted the family's claims as untrue. Hong Jang-deuk, head of the investigation division at Jeonbuk Police Agency, explained, "Based not only on the witness statements but also on various physical evidence secured at the time, we judged that the criminal facts were sufficiently proven, and due to a high risk of evidence destruction, the suspect was detained."

Regarding whether illegal evidence collection occurred during the search and seizure, he said, "The suspect agreed to write down the mobile phone password," adding, "There is a difference in position between the investigators and the bereaved family on that matter." When asked again if there was any video evidence of the search and seizure to support this, he replied, "As far as I know, there is none."

On whether coercive investigation took place, he stated, "There was no shifting of the burden of proof of criminal acts onto the deceased or any coercive investigation," and added, "The university also took administrative action related to the paper before the police's pre-investigation (internal inquiry)."

Meanwhile, Professor A had been under police investigation since September 2021 on charges including obstruction of official duties by deception following allegations of paper fabrication. He repeatedly stated that "there was no intention to fabricate the paper and that the figures were mistakenly recorded," but the police conducted a rigorous investigation until recently, including detaining Professor A last month. He was later released following a court decision to grant a detention review, but was found dead in a car near a beach in Buan County around 6:20 p.m. the day before yesterday.