Education Minister Nominee Park Soon-ae Faces Allegations of Repeated Plagiarism in Papers

Duplicate Publication of Same Paper Title in Journals, 35% Plagiarism Rate
2007 Paper in Korean Association for Public Administration, Published in Seoul National University Administrative Review
2006 Co-authored Paper in Korean Environmental Policy Association Also
Almost Identical to 2005 Co-authored Paper

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Park Soon-ae, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, has been found to have multiple suspected cases of plagiarism in her own papers following a history of drunk driving.

According to Kwon In-sook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Park published a paper titled "An Exploratory Study on the Relationship Between Central Government Ministries in the National Standard System: Focusing on the Relationship Between the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards and Related Ministries in the RFID Industry" in the summer academic conference proceedings of the Korean Association for Public Administration in June 2007. In December of the same year, she published "An Exploratory Study on Standardization Projects and Intergovernmental Relations: Focusing on the Relationship Between the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards and Related Ministries in the RFID Industry" in the Administrative Review of the Korea Institute of Public Administration at Seoul National University.

Although the papers were published under different titles in two academic journals, their subtitles were the same and the content was found to be very similar. In fact, the conclusion section, which can be considered the core of the paper, had most sentences exactly matching as if copied and pasted, but there were no citations or source references.

According to plagiarism detection software, the plagiarism rate between the two papers reached 35%. While there is no legally defined plagiarism rate for academic papers, the general standard for judging plagiarism is between 15% and 20%.

Candidate for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae's paper published in June 2007 in the Korean Association for Public Administration (left) and the paper published in December of the same year at the Seoul National University Institute of Korean Public Administration (right). (Courtesy of Assemblywoman Kwon In-sook's office)

According to the ethical regulations of the Korean Association for Public Administration, which published the paper, copying one's own paper content without source citation is considered "duplicate publication" and is subject to sanctions. The Administrative Review of Seoul National University also defines self-plagiarism without source citation as research misconduct and imposes sanctions such as paper retraction depending on the severity.

There are more suspected cases of plagiarism. Park was registered as a co-author (corresponding author) of the paper "Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors in the Power Generation Sector," published in 2006 by the Korean Association for Environmental Policy. This paper was found to be almost identical in content to the 2005 co-authored paper by Jo Yong-sung and Jo Young-dae titled "Analysis and Reduction Measures of Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors in the Power Generation Sector." The plagiarism rate between the papers was 36%, and Park's 2006 paper did not cite or reference the 2005 paper.

Representative Kwon In-sook pointed out, "As the head of the Ministry of Education, which oversees university research ethics, the plagiarism history of the Minister of Education nominee is a major disqualification. Park Soon-ae, who has repeatedly violated research ethics through habitual plagiarism, is not qualified to become Minister of Education."

Additionally, Park was found to have published the presentation "Development of Environmental Administration and Citizen Participation," delivered at the Korean Association for Public Administration planning seminar in May 2000, in two academic journals with almost identical content. The sentence structures of the original presentation and the two papers published in "Yonsei Social Science Research" and "Journal of Urban Administration" were confirmed to be nearly identical.

In 2002, she published parts of a research report titled "Study on Improvement Measures for the Management and Operation of Seoul Municipal Youth Training Centers," presented by the Seoul Institute, in one academic conference and two academic journals in the same year by copying and pasting. There were no citations or source references to Park's previous research papers or presentations in these problematic papers.

The Ministry of Education's hearing preparation team explained, "The Ministry of Education's research ethics guidelines were established in 2007, and the provision for 'unfair duplicate publication' was newly added in 2015. Before that, there were no regulations on duplicate publication. According to the research ethics guidelines established in 2015, not all duplicate publications are problematic; only cases where unfair benefits such as receiving research funds or recognition as separate research achievements are obtained are judged as 'unfair duplicate publication.'"

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