"Professor Only Six Months After Earning Ph.D."
Yoo Seungmin Must Provide an Explanation
Cho Kuk, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Innovation Party, raised his voice regarding the controversy over the appointment of Yoo Dam, daughter of former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seungmin, as an assistant professor at Incheon National University. He stated, "Let us apply exactly the same standards to the children of politicians and prosecutors affiliated with the People Power Party as were applied to my own daughter and son-no more, no less."
Cho Kuk, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Innovation Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 30th. Photo by Yonhap News
On October 31, through his Facebook account, Cho said, "I have publicly apologized several times for my own 'unfairness' and have endured the legal consequences," reiterating his position.
He continued, "During the National Assembly audit, serious suspicions were raised regarding the process by which former lawmaker Yoo's daughter, Yoo Dam, was hired as a professor." He pointed out, "As a former national university professor myself, I can assure you that it is not easy for a young researcher (born in 1994, with a bachelor's from Dongguk University, a master's from Yonsei University, and a doctorate from Korea University) who obtained her Ph.D. only six months ago to be appointed as a professor at a national university, especially over an international marketing expert with six SSCI papers."
He went on to say, "She had no research experience, yet received a perfect score in the career evaluation. Her thesis scores were low, and even those papers are suspected of being split publications or self-plagiarism." He added, "It seems it was really easy to become a university professor. According to the standards of the Yoon Sukyeol prosecution in 2019, and the standards of those in the People Power Party and others who cried out for 'fairness,' the homes of Yoo Seungmin and Yoo Dam, as well as Incheon National University, should have been searched, and the professors involved in the hiring committee should have been investigated."
He further commented, "Was your anger and sense of fairness not selective?" and added, "Former lawmaker Yoo, who was always confident in every matter, should directly explain this case and answer questions from reporters."
Cho also mentioned allegations of preferential treatment for the children of People Power Party figures. He said, "Han Donghoon, former People Power Party leader's daughter, wrote six English papers as a sole author while in her first year of high school and had them published in four journals, yet no investigation was conducted." He continued, "There was no search of the international school in Incheon. A ghostwriter in Kenya even gave an interview admitting to writing the papers, but was there any investigation into this person? At the time, the prosecution did not even request criminal judicial cooperation from foreign investigative agencies."
Cho also pointed out, "The son of People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyungwon, who was listed as the first author and as a 'Seoul National University graduate school researcher' on a poster for the International Society for Medical and Biological Engineering while interning at a Seoul National University medical school lab during his high school years in the United States, was also cleared of any charges." He added, "As for the case in which he was listed as the fourth author, I understand the prosecution suspended the indictment due to the statute of limitations, but there has been no news since then."
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