Sookmyung Women's University Amends Regulations to Allow Retroactive Revocation of Kim Keonhee's Degree

Sookmyung Women's University has begun the process of amending its academic regulations with the possible revocation of First Lady Kim Keonhee's master's degree in mind.

Yonhap News

On June 9, Sookmyung Women's University announced that the faculty board had passed a revision to Article 25-2 (Revocation of Degree) of its academic regulations, which includes a new supplementary provision.

This regulation allows the university to revoke a degree through a review by the graduate school committee if the degree was obtained through fraudulent means. However, it has only been in effect since June 13, 2015, and therefore did not apply to Kim Keonhee's degree.

The new supplementary provision states, "The revocation of degrees conferred prior to the enactment of this clause shall be limited to cases of serious and clear misconduct that significantly undermines ethical standards," making retroactive application possible.

The amendment will be finalized after review by the University Council on June 16. Afterward, Sookmyung Women's University plans to convene the Research Integrity Committee to consider revoking Kim Keonhee's degree.

The thesis titled "A Study on the Characteristics of Paul Klee's Paintings," which Kim Keonhee submitted to Sookmyung Women's University Graduate School of Education in 1999, was found to be plagiarized according to a university investigation in February. Neither Kim Keonhee nor the informant group, the Minju Alumni Association, raised objections to the result.

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