[Full Text] Hong Jin-young "I Will Return My Master's and Doctorate Degrees... Frustrated and Upset"

Published 06 Nov.2020 21:19(KST)

On the 6th, singer Hong Jin-young expressed her intention to "return her master's and doctoral degrees" after allegations of plagiarism in her master's thesis surfaced. Photo by Hong Jin-young Instagram capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Singer Hong Jin-young expressed her intention to "return her master's and doctoral degrees" after allegations of plagiarism in her master's thesis surfaced.

On the 6th, Hong Jin-young posted on Instagram, stating, "I will return my master's and doctoral degrees," adding, "I believe this is the best way I can respond."

She wrote, "I obtained my master's degree thesis in graduate school in 2009," and "I made every effort to complete the thesis by consulting with my advisor while managing my time."

Hong Jin-young said, "However, what was considered customary at the time is now judged by just a few percentage points, so no matter what I say, it can only be seen as an excuse, which is frustrating and upsetting."

Earlier, on the 5th, Kukmin Ilbo reported that the plagiarism detection site 'Copy Killer' showed a "plagiarism rate of 74%" for Hong Jin-young's thesis. According to the report, out of 556 sentences in Hong Jin-young's thesis, 124 sentences had 6 matching words, and 365 sentences were suspected of plagiarism.

Following this, the media outlet released a follow-up report the next day, citing former Professor A of the Department of Trade at Chosun University, who taught Hong, stating, "The plagiarism rate of Hong Jin-young's master's thesis is not 74% but 99.9%," and added, "I have rarely seen Hong at the school. Both the master's and doctoral theses are fake."

Former Professor A reportedly said, "Based on my experience of awarding credits for all of Hong's undergraduate, master's, and doctoral courses, I can testify that all those theses are false," and "I cannot deny that Hong's father, who is a professor at the same school, exerted influence."

Regarding this, Hong Jin-young wrote, "I also think this is a part I must take responsibility for," and "Looking back now, it was a garment that did not suit me, and I think I was overly greedy, so I reflect on it."

She also said, "Regardless of the reason, seeing myself caught up in such controversy makes me endlessly sad," and "All of this is my fault and mistake, and I apologize once again."

She added, "I apologize for greeting you with such an unfortunate matter. I have worked hard with sweat and tears for over ten years, but being involved in such rumors also upsets me."

Initially, Hong Jin-young denied the plagiarism allegations raised by Kukmin Ilbo.

On the 5th, Hong Jin-young's agency stated, "Hong Jin-young sincerely participated in the research and writing process of her master's thesis in the Department of Trade at Chosun University titled 'A Study on the Trends of the Cultural Contents Industry through Hallyu' and never plagiarized the thesis."

The agency added, "Regarding the suspicion that the plagiarism rate exceeded 74%, we convey the opinion of the professor who reviewed Hong Jin-young's master's thesis at the time," and "According to the professor, the thesis review took place in 2009, when it was customary to include many citations and footnotes, and a thesis had to have many citations to pass the review."

They continued, "The Copy Killer system has been mandatorily used by universities since 2015 to filter out plagiarism rates exceeding 50%. Since the system did not exist in 2009 when the thesis was reviewed, the plagiarism rate would inevitably appear high when checked now," emphasizing again that Hong Jin-young's thesis was not plagiarized.

Below is the full text of Hong Jin-young's Instagram post.

Hello, this is Hong Jin-young.

First, I apologize for greeting you with such an unfortunate matter. I have worked hard with sweat and tears for over ten years, but being involved in such rumors also upsets me. I am sorry for causing concern. I sincerely apologize.

I obtained my master's degree thesis in graduate school in 2009. I made every effort to complete the thesis by consulting with my advisor while managing my time.

However, what was considered customary at the time is now judged by just a few percentage points, so no matter what I say, it can only be seen as an excuse, which is frustrating and upsetting.

I also think this is a part I must take responsibility for. Looking back now, it was a garment that did not suit me. I think I was overly greedy.

I am sorry. Regardless of the reason, seeing myself caught up in such controversy makes me endlessly sad. And looking back on the past, I reflect on whether I was greedy in other ways as well. I am truly sorry. I was lacking.

I will return my master's and doctoral degrees. I believe this is the best way I can respond.