Nominee Seo Wook Faces Allegations of Plagiarism, Fictitious Address Registration, and Gap Investment

Defense Minister nominee Seo Wook is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 16th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] On the 16th, the military favoritism allegations involving Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's son, Mr. Seo, became a major issue during the confirmation hearing for Seo Wook, the nominee for Minister of National Defense. Questions also followed regarding Seo's doctoral dissertation plagiarism, false address registration, and 'gap investment' suspicions.

In his written response submitted to the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, Seo answered the question, "If preferential treatment was obtained through irregular means, do you think disciplinary action should be taken?" by stating, "There should be no unfair discrimination or favoritism, and any related corruption must be strictly dealt with according to laws and regulations."

Earlier, in his opening remarks, Seo said, "Through transparent and efficient defense operations, I will develop the military into one that the public sympathizes with and soldiers are proud of," adding, "I will build a military trusted by the people."

The day before, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office conducted a search and seizure at the Ministry of National Defense's Civil Complaints Office and the Defense Computer Information Center. This was to find a recorded file containing the content and voice of a phone inquiry made by one of Minister Choo's couple on June 14, 2017, regarding an extension of leave for their son, Mr. Seo. Inside and outside the military, it was speculated that the recording file had been destroyed after the retention period (3 years) had passed, but the Ministry of National Defense remained silent. This raised suspicions that the Seo case might have been downplayed or concealed.

On the 15th, during the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs, Unification, and Security Committee's government questioning, Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party asked Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, "There are cases where soldiers, like Mr. Seo, inquired by phone about extending sick leave but were told to 'return first,' and their sick leave extension was denied due to the absence of a medical review by the military hospital." Jeong replied, "That is consistent with the regulations." The Ministry of National Defense stated, "There is a record that Seo's personal leave was pre-approved, and it was merely a delay in the personnel order." Whether this was a simple administrative error or leave processing under pressure remains to be clarified. If it was a simple administrative error, the responsible military officials cannot avoid disciplinary action; if it was leave granted under pressure, it would constitute a violation of the Anti-Graft Act (Kim Young-ran Act) by Minister Choo's side.

Meanwhile, according to Rep. Lee Chae-ik of the People Power Party, a plagiarism check using the program 'Copykiller' on Seo's doctoral dissertation in political science from Kyungnam University, titled 'Alliance Models and South Korea's Operational Control Transfer Policy,' published in June 2015, showed a plagiarism rate of 32%. Rep. Lee's office stated that a plagiarism rate exceeding 30% in this program is generally considered clear plagiarism. Among the 1,940 sentences in Seo's dissertation, 138 sentences had six matching words, and 815 sentences were suspected of plagiarism, according to Rep. Lee's analysis. Rep. Han Ki-ho of the same party also claimed that Seo plagiarized 98 other theses.

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