[2021 National Audit] "Kim Gun-hee's Kookmin University Thesis Must Be Directly Reinvestigated by the Ministry of Education"

Ruling Party Lawmakers Urge Ministry of Education to Directly Reexamine Kookmin University Theses
Yoo Eun-hye: "Follow-up Measures According to Principles and Procedures Applied Equally"
Calls to Simultaneously Verify Other Theses Beyond Doctoral Dissertations
Do Jong-wan: "Requested Verification of Two Papers from Korea Design Trend Society"

Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Yoo Eun-hye is attending the National Assembly's education committee's audit of the Ministry of Education held at the National Assembly on the 1st, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] At the Ministry of Education's national audit, there was an outpouring of demands for the Ministry to directly reinvestigate the verification of Ms. Kim Geon-hee's doctoral dissertation at Kookmin University.

On the 1st, Kang Min-jung, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Open Democratic Party, said at the audit, "Judging by Kookmin University's attitude, I believe they will drag out the issue ambiguously. There is great public outrage, and Kookmin University has reached its limits in resolving this on its own," adding, "Please do not request Kookmin University to conduct an internal investigation, but based on Articles 3 and 30 of the Research Ethics Guidelines, I urge the Ministry of Education to carry out an immediate and direct reinvestigation."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye stated, "We will take follow-up measures according to the principles and procedures applied in other administrative processes."

There were also calls for verification of the other papers published besides the doctoral dissertation.

Do Jong-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "Among the three papers Ms. Kim Geon-hee published to meet the prerequisites for applying for her doctoral degree, two were published in issues 16 and 17 of the academic journal Korean Design Forum," adding, "According to the research ethics regulations of the Korean Design Trend Society, there is no statute of limitations on research ethics, and a research ethics committee must be convened."

Rep. Do said, "Our office collected the plagiarism allegations raised so far and requested the Korean Design Trend Society to verify research misconduct regarding the two papers," and added, "It is an act that destroys academic authority for Kookmin University to refuse verification citing the statute of limitations. I urge the Ministry of Education to firmly convey its position so that Kookmin University can properly submit its investigation plan by the 8th."

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo replied, "Kookmin University's Research Ethics Committee also reviewed the three academic papers and resolved on September 8th not to conduct additional investigations due to the expiration of the verification period," adding, "When asked to report Kookmin University's action plan, I think the review of the three academic papers should also be included."

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo further added, "Since this is a very important matter, we judged that establishing research ethics is crucial enough to abolish the statute of limitations, and we will handle this strictly."

The investigation results also mentioned that Kookmin University responded in the Ministry of Education's '2020 University Research Ethics Status Survey' that it had abolished the statute of limitations for paper verification.

Seo Dong-yong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, "Kookmin University reported to the Ministry of Education in this survey that it had already abolished the statute of limitations, but told the public that verification could not be done after the statute of limitations expired. This is a false report."

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said, "There are issues that undermine the original intent, so we plan to supplement the system by revising laws and enforcement decrees and also request revisions to university regulations and rules."

After plagiarism allegations against Ms. Kim's thesis were raised, Kookmin University formed a preliminary investigation committee in July and reviewed the case, announcing that it would not conduct a full investigation due to the expiration of the verification period. In response, the Ministry of Education sent an official letter last month requesting Kookmin University to submit an investigation plan regarding the allegations of misconduct in Ms. Kim's thesis by the 8th.

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