'Kim Gun-hee Thesis Damage Lawsuit' Kookmin University Refuses to Submit Meeting Minutes... Lawyer "Don't Know the Reason"

Kookmin University Alumni "Doubtful Whether They Respect the Judiciary"

Kookmin University

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] In a lawsuit filed by graduates of Kookmin University against the school foundation Kookmin Hakwon, claiming damages for not properly investigating allegations of research misconduct by First Lady Kim Geon-hee, Kookmin University again refused the court's order to submit the minutes of the thesis verification meeting.

On the 15th, Judge Lee Jun-gu of Civil Division 11 at the Seoul Southern District Court held the second hearing of the damages lawsuit filed by the Kookmin University Alumni Emergency Committee (Alumni Emergency Committee) against Kookmin Hakwon.

At the first hearing, the plaintiff Alumni Emergency Committee requested that Kookmin University submit the minutes of the preliminary investigation committee meeting held when the university decided not to proceed with a full investigation into the allegations of research misconduct by Mrs. Kim. The judge accepted this request and ordered Kookmin University to submit the minutes.

However, on the originally scheduled second hearing date of the 18th of last month, Kookmin University did not submit the minutes, leading to a postponement of the hearing at the plaintiff's request.

Nevertheless, Kookmin University again did not submit the minutes at the resumed second hearing. The university's legal representative responded, "Currently, we are not submitting them," and added, "I am not sure of the reason." The judge ordered, "Submit a written explanation for the reason for not submitting."

In response, the Alumni Emergency Committee stated, "Kookmin University is acting in bad faith, which raises doubts about whether they truly respect the judiciary," and pointed out, "They even claim that the committee decided not to disclose the re-investigation report, but we wonder if refusal based on that reason is acceptable even against a judicial order."

Earlier this month, Kookmin University announced that after completing a re-investigation into four theses related to Mrs. Kim, it concluded that three of them, including the doctoral dissertation, did not constitute research misconduct. The remaining one was concluded as "verification impossible."

Meanwhile, the next hearing is scheduled for the 27th of next month.

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