Chosun University Initiates Degree Revocation Process for Hong Jin-young... "Both Master's and Doctoral Degrees Expected to Be Revoked"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] Chosun University announced on the 23rd its final position that singer Hong Jin-young's master's thesis is plagiarism and has initiated the degree revocation process.

The Graduate School Committee of Chosun University stated on the same day, "We have made a final judgment that Hong Jin-young's thesis is plagiarism and have begun administrative procedures to revoke the degree."

Earlier, the Research Integrity Committee under the Chosun University Research Ethics Institute conducted an investigation into the plagiarism allegations regarding Hong Jin-young's master's thesis and tentatively concluded that the thesis was plagiarized.

Subsequently, on the 18th, Hong Jin-young posted on SNS expressing her feelings regarding the claim that her master's thesis was plagiarized.

Hong Jin-young said, "I will admit everything and reflect on it," adding, "I think I couldn't let go of my greed. I was too busy justifying myself." She further stated, "I accept Chosun University's tentative conclusion of plagiarism and will deeply repent."

As the revocation of Hong Jin-young's master's degree becomes a foregone conclusion, attention is turning to what will happen to her doctoral degree.

Regarding this, a Chosun University official said, "There are no related regulations or precedents, so it is difficult to give a definite answer, but it seems that both the master's and doctoral degrees will be revoked simultaneously," adding, "Obtaining a master's degree is necessary to enter the doctoral program. The Graduate School Committee plans to address the issue of revoking the doctoral degree as well."

He continued, "To prevent such incidents from recurring in the future, we will strengthen the supervision and guidance duties to prevent research ethics violations such as plagiarism, which have been assigned to thesis advisors since 2011, and will operate the research ethics management system more thoroughly."

Hong Jin-young received her master's degree from the Department of Trade at Chosun University in 2009 with a thesis titled 'A Study on the Trends of the Cultural Content Industry through the Korean Wave' and later obtained her doctoral degree from the same graduate school in 2012.

There was also controversy over whether her degree acquisition was influenced by the fact that her father was a professor at Chosun University.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.