Seol Min-seok Accused of Master's Thesis Plagiarism... Overall Plagiarism Rate Reaches 52%

Among 747 Sentences, 187 Recorded 100% Plagiarism Rate
Analysis Result from Thesis Plagiarism Verification Site 'Copykiller'

History lecturer Seol Min-seok. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. / Photo by tvN Broadcast Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] History lecturer Seol Minseok has been accused of plagiarizing his master's thesis.

On the 29th, entertainment media outlet 'Dispatch' reported that Seol Minseok's 2010 master's thesis submitted to Yonsei University's Graduate School of Education, titled "A Study on Ideological Controversies in the Description of Modern and Contemporary Korean History Textbooks," showed a high plagiarism rate.

According to the media, when the thesis was analyzed using the plagiarism detection site 'Copykiller,' it was confirmed that the plagiarism rate was 52%. The master's thesis consists of a total of 747 sentences. Among them, 187 sentences recorded a 100% plagiarism rate, 56 sentences had a plagiarism rate of over 90%, and 110 sentences had a plagiarism rate of over 80%.

Dispatch reported that there were 40 papers presumed to have been referenced by Seol Minseok. In particular, 46 sentences were directly "copied and pasted" from "A Descriptive Analysis of the Japanese Colonial Period in Modern and Contemporary Korean History Textbooks," and 35 sentences from "A Study on the Distinctiveness of the Approved Textbook on Modern and Contemporary Korean History."

Some sentences were copied with only word substitutions. For example, in a sentence from a graduate student’s 2008 paper titled "Critique of Colonial Modernization Theory in Modern and Contemporary Korean History," the phrase "With the emergence of the Forum textbook, such controversies about modern and contemporary Korean history arise, making one realize how difficult it is to have a balanced historical perspective" was altered by changing 'Forum' to 'Alternative' and 'makes' to 'becomes.'

On the 22nd, Seol Min-seok appeared on his YouTube channel. / Photo by YouTube Capture

Regarding these thesis analysis results, a current professor said in an interview with Dispatch, "If the parts writing about one's own research results are exactly the same, it can only be considered plagiarism."

According to multiple media reports, Seol Minseok has not yet issued a statement regarding the plagiarism allegations.

Meanwhile, Seol Minseok recently faced a so-called "historical distortion controversy" for delivering incorrect information during a broadcast.

He appeared on the tvN educational program "Seol Minseok's Naked History" aired on the 19th, explaining Egyptian history, which led Gwak Minsu, director of the Korean Institute of Egyptology, to criticize, saying, "There are too many factual inaccuracies."

On the 20th, Director Gwak wrote on his Facebook, "There are so many factual errors that it is difficult to mention them one by one, and even the maps are all wrong," adding, "It seems that the content I advised on was not well reflected, so just don't watch it."

As the controversy grew, Seol Minseok bowed his head on his YouTube channel on the 22nd, saying, "This happened because I was lacking and insufficient," and added, "I will take this as a whip to do better and show you a more sincere and diligent preparation."

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