Professor Moon Si-yeon Appointed as the 21st President of Sookmyung Women's University

Scheduled to Serve as President for Four Years Starting This September
Regarding Kim Geon-hee's Plagiarism Allegations, "Will Follow Regulations"

The Sookmyung Foundation held a board meeting on the 20th and announced the appointment of Professor Moon Si-yeon from the Department of French Linguistics and Culture as the 21st president of Sookmyung Women's University. Professor Moon will serve as president for four years starting from September 1.

Moon Si-yeon, newly appointed professor at Sookmyung Women's University
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At a policy debate, Professor Moon expressed her position regarding allegations that Kim Geon-hee, the wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol, plagiarized her master's thesis, stating that "it will be handled according to regulations and procedures."

She said, "There is a saying that 'delayed justice is not justice,'" adding, "If I become president, I will first investigate why the verification of Mrs. Kim's thesis has been delayed and then organize it according to regulations and procedures."

Sookmyung Women's University began a formal investigation into the plagiarism allegations of Mrs. Kim's master's thesis in December 2022 but has yet to release the verification results.

Professor Moon ranked first in both the first and second rounds of voting in this presidential election, which was the second direct election since 2020. Since the overall voter turnout did not exceed half in the first round, a second round of voting was held over two days from the 13th to the 14th, where Professor Moon received 56.29% of the total valid votes, securing first place.

In the second round, the incumbent president Jang Yoon-geum (professor in the Department of Library and Information Science) came in second with 43.71% of the votes.

Professor Moon, who entered the Department of French Language and Literature at Sookmyung Women's University in 1984, studied abroad in France in 1988 and earned her master's and doctoral degrees from Nouvelle Sorbonne University. After joining Sookmyung Women's University as a professor in the Department of French Language and Culture in 1997, she served as director of the Central Library, director of the Korean Cultural Exchange Center, and president of the French Culture and Arts Association. She currently serves as president of the World Hallyu Studies Association.