"Making Money Easily" Why Did Son Changhyun Live a 'Plagiarized Life'? [Exclusive Interview]

Son Chang-hyun, who indiscriminately plagiarized others' novels to sweep literary awards
Revealing the process from military discharge to first plagiarism
Bought a luxury imported car with illicit prize money and posted it on SNS
"Sincerely apologize to the victims, I will start anew"

Mr. Son Chang-hyun, who has swept various literary awards by unauthorizedly quoting other people's novels. Photo by SBS Gunggeumhan Iyagi Y capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] [Editor's Note] Recently, there was an incident that shook our society to its core. An unprecedented level of plagiarism. Indiscriminate plagiarism. A life without one's own identity, living someone else's life. Son Chang-hyun, known as a former Air Force officer, completely took others' efforts and claimed them as his own, winning various contests and numerous prize money, living a life of luxury. However, his seemingly smooth life is now facing severe legal punishment. For the first time, we reveal his thoughts on why he committed such acts, whether he felt any guilt, and why he committed these crimes, falling into what is called a 'plagiarized life.'

- Do you know what you have done? Are you reflecting on it? Many people are angry.

▲ I want to meet those who were harmed by me and apologize directly. I am truly very sorry. I also want to express my sincere apologies to the public.

- We are curious about your recent life. What exactly happened?

▲ I spent my youth entirely in the military. I served in the Marine Corps and then as an Air Force officer for 11 years. In 2017, I was involved in an unfortunate incident and was dishonorably discharged. When I entered society, I felt a huge sense of loss. I drank heavily to the point of developing cirrhosis and other illnesses. I was even hospitalized and went through a difficult time.

My life goal was to become a pilot. I nurtured this dream to the extent that I re-enlisted as an officer after completing my mandatory military service. However, I had an accident during flight training. So, I changed my career path from pilot to military police. It was tough. During that time, my father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, my mother was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and my older brother was unemployed.

While serving as military police, I was involved in an incident and was discharged. After that, my girlfriend of 10 years married another man. My father passed away, and the store my mother ran was on the verge of collapse. Also, I had no sense of belonging. I wanted to belong somewhere. It was hard. I think I completely lost my self-esteem.

- How did you come to take an interest in contests?

▲ Given the situation, I actually thought of contests as a part-time job. I had no money at all. I was scammed out of tens of millions of won from my officer retirement pay. Regarding plagiarism, good writings are freely shared on blogs, right? When I cited others' writings, I had that kind of mindset. Of course, I am not saying it was right; I have a repentant heart.

- Please explain in detail the process including the plagiarism.

▲ First of all, I want you to know that I fully admit to having done something wrong.

At first, I entered contests within my ability. There were many, but initially, I submitted two entries: policy essays and military-related ideas. Some of these won awards, but the prize money was too small.

I needed to make money, and driven by bad intentions in that environment, I thought, "Let's submit someone else's writing posted on the OOO site under my name," and I did. That won first place. (I think that was the start of winning prizes through plagiarism.) I remember the prize money was about 700,000 to 800,000 won.

For example, if I struggled on my own, I would get 100,000 to 200,000 won. But by submitting others' writings or materials, I could make money very easily without spending time and effort. The contest entry that earned me money initially was not a novel. It seemed to be judged by a local government. I don't remember the exact time of the award.

- So is that why you proudly posted pictures of luxury imported cars bought with that money on Facebook?

▲ I can say clearly that I did not enjoy that situation. After being dishonorably discharged, I had many military acquaintances, and I wanted to show that I was still living at least this well. It came purely from that feeling.

- How do you plan to resolve this situation going forward?

▲ First, I want to meet those harmed by me and apologize in person. However, I am cautious because meeting them might cause further harm. Also, I will take full moral and legal responsibility for the plagiarism controversy. Furthermore, I sincerely apologize once again to the public for causing social unrest. I am truly very sorry. Since I won contests, someone must have been disqualified because of me, and I sincerely apologize for that as well. I will use this incident as a turning point to live anew. I am truly sorry.

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