Professor Group Verifies Kim Geon-hee's Thesis: "Unauthorized Use of Blog Materials... A Collection of Plagiarism"

"220 Sentences Out of 860 in Doctoral Dissertation Cited Without Source"
Professors' Group Demands Kookmin University Retract Reinvestigation Results

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Professor organizations have released their own verification results stating that Kim Geon-hee's theses constitute plagiarism. The professor groups claim that Kim's theses indiscriminately used materials without permission from sources such as fortune-telling websites and saju-palja (Four Pillars of Destiny) blogs.

On the 6th, the "National Academic Verification Group for Kim Geon-hee's Thesis Plagiarism," composed of 14 organizations including the Korea Private University Professors Association Federation, held a public report session at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. The verification group examined a total of four theses: Kim's doctoral dissertation in Design from the Graduate School of Techno Design at Kookmin University and three journal-published papers.

The verification group explained that Kim's theses constitute plagiarism. They stated, "The verification results of Kim's theses show without any doubt that all the theses are collections of plagiarism," adding, "The quality is such that they cannot be recognized as academic theses." The plagiarism was found to be indiscriminate across various domains. The group explained, "Kim's theses used materials from fortune-telling websites, saju-palja blogs, knowledge trading sites, and other unconventional sources without citing them," and "plagiarism occurred in all aspects including content, sentences, concepts, and ideas."

According to the verification group, Kim's doctoral dissertation copied and pasted parts of a paper by Professor Koo Yeon-sang of the Department of Basic Liberal Arts at Sookmyung Women's University, personal blog posts, and parts of articles. Out of the total 860 sentences in the dissertation, 220 sentences were cited without indicating the source, the group explained. The plagiarism in the three journal-published papers was also at a serious level, and they claimed that one paper published in the Korea Design Forum almost entirely plagiarized another researcher's paper.

The verification group urged, "Kookmin University should retract its re-investigation results that announced Kim's four theses do not constitute research misconduct," and "immediately disclose the list of re-investigation committee members and the final report." The Kookmin University Alumni Emergency Response Committee also agreed with the verification group's announcement on the same day and urged the university president to implement measures to prevent recurrence. Last month, Kookmin University announced that three papers, including the doctoral dissertation, did not constitute research misconduct, and that verification of one journal-published paper was impossible.

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