By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Members of a civic group claimed Tuesday that Busan Biennale 2008 art director and Hongik University professor Lee Doo-shik plagiarized others' idea in his doctorate paper.
ArtnSociety alleged that about 85 percent of Lee's doctorate paper, ``Study on Expressions of Vibrancy According to Intuitive Sense and Autonomy in Art'' submitted to Kyoto University of Art & Design in 2005 contained research from 11 other peoples' papers. Oh Sang-ghil, the representative of the group, said Lee's paper was not registered with all the required organizations either.
This is the second time an authorative art figure has been involved in a scandal over their academic career. The first was early this year, when Shin Jeong-ah, the former art director of the Gwangju Biennale and dismissed professor at Dongguk University, have used a fake Yale University degree for employment.
The civic group found that all 11 papers assumed as sources were written 4-12 years ahead of Lee's; the notified references and Lee's paper had the same critical errors; and some of the references were not even written in the paper.
The group said Lee copied some factual errors from his sources without correction. American abstract painter Jackson Pollock turned into Russian artist Katarzyna Pollock and French critic Michel Tapie was cited as an artist.
Oh said he found that Lee registered his paper at the Japanese university and Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), but not at Hongik University, where he works. He also claimed that the PDF file of his paper at the KERIS did not contain the judges, tutor nor an abstract; all essential for a doctorate.
``We need to hold a thorough investigation into the case to prevent more mishaps. Whether he really received the degree and how he got it should be talked about,'' Oh said promising that the group will conduct further investigations on other key figures in the art field.
Meanwhile, Lee admitted to have ``misconducted'' several things such as having forgotten to site all references. But he said he received the degree through a special process. Lee said due to his being acknowledged, he was exempted from lectures and only had to hand in papers.
Lee is one of the most well known figures in the nation. He has taught at Hongik University since 1984 and served as the head of the Korean Fine Arts Association.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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