Seoul National University Graduate Student Expelled Over Alleged False Accusations Against Advisor

Front view of the main gate of Seoul National University. Seoul National University

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A graduate student at Seoul National University, who had been suspected of falsely accusing her academic advisor after struggling to obtain her doctoral degree, has been expelled.

According to Seoul National University on October 10, a disciplinary committee at one of the university's colleges convened at the end of last month and decided to expel Ms. A, a woman in her 30s enrolled in an integrated master's and doctoral program. The committee concluded that Ms. A had defamed her advisor, Professor B, by spreading false information on social networking services (SNS), leading to this decision.

In July, Ms. A wrote on SNS, "After Professor B told me he liked me, I was confused but kept my distance. Immediately after that, my planned participation in an international conference was unilaterally canceled." However, an investigation found that these claims were not true.

Ms. A also alleged that a fellow researcher had stolen her research achievements, but it was determined that the researcher in question had been working on the project even before meeting Ms. A, revealing this claim to be false as well. Additionally, it was reported that Ms. A was already at risk of expulsion for failing to pay her tuition without any particular reason, even if she had not been formally expelled.

A university official stated, "Even after the disciplinary action, Ms. A did not make any effort to apologize to or clarify matters with her advisor to restore Professor B's reputation. We hope that such incidents do not occur again so that healthy relationships between advisors and students can be maintained."

The police are currently investigating Ms. A on charges of defamation by spreading false information.

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