Court Orders Kookmin University to Submit Meeting Minutes on 'Plagiarism Suspicion of Kim Geon-hee's Thesis'

Court Accepts Application Filed by Plaintiff Graduates

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and his wife Kim Geon-hee, CEO of Kobana Contents, are making a public apology on the 26th at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, regarding allegations of false credentials. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The court has ordered the Kookmin University school foundation to submit the minutes of the preliminary investigation committee of the Research Ethics Committee that investigated allegations of research misconduct in First Lady Kim Geon-hee's doctoral dissertation.

According to the legal community on the 11th, Judge Lee Jun-gu of the Seoul Southern District Court Civil Division 11 recently accepted the plaintiff's motion for document submission in a damages lawsuit filed by Kookmin University graduates against the school foundation Kookmin Academy.

Earlier, the graduates applied for a document submission order for the committee minutes to prove that the Kookmin University Research Ethics Committee's preliminary investigation committee did not sufficiently review Ms. Kim's dissertation.

The minutes are known to contain the decision-making process in which Kookmin University concluded last September that "the verification period has expired, so no main investigation will be conducted."

The Kookmin University Alumni Emergency Response Committee explained, "The minutes are expected to include Kim Geon-hee's opinions," adding, "We intended to review the overall circumstances of the preliminary investigation."

Kookmin University began a preliminary investigation last July after media reports raised suspicions of research misconduct related to First Lady Kim's doctoral dissertation at Kookmin University's Techno Design Graduate School titled 'A Study on the Development of Fortune-telling Content Using Avatars: Focusing on the Development and Market Application of 'Anita'.'

At that time, the preliminary investigation committee conducted the investigation focusing on three items: the specificity and clarity of the tip-off content, the appropriateness of the statute of limitations, and the suitability of the investigation. Regarding research misconduct up to August 31, 2012, the committee judged that the statute of limitations was not met due to the regulation stating, "Reports received after five years will not be processed."

Accordingly, the committee took the position that additional investigation could not be conducted on three papers Ms. Kim published in external academic journals during her graduate studies: ▲ 'A Study on the Development of Wibro Content Using Anita - Focusing on the Development of Physiognomy and Compatibility Avatars' (August 2007) ▲ 'A Study on Membership Retention and Withdrawal According to Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction of Online Fortune-telling Content Users' (2007) ▲ 'A Study on Factors Affecting e-Satisfaction in Online Shopping Mall Consumers' Purchase' (2007), as the verification period had expired.

In November last year, 113 Kookmin University graduates filed a lawsuit claiming 300,000 KRW each in mental damages, stating, "Kookmin University has not clearly stated its position on conducting a main investigation into Kim's dissertation research misconduct, leading to widespread public distrust of the degree conferral process at Kookmin University and causing significant negative social perceptions of Kookmin University degree holders."

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