Safety minister nominee stumbles on plagiarism after shamanism
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Park Seung-joo
By Lee Han-soo
Park Seung-joo, the nominee for minister of Public Safety and Security, allegedly plagiarized his doctorate dissertation, according to cable TV network YTN.
YTN reported that Park’s doctorate dissertation from Dongguk University in 2004, included similarities from six other dissertations written by other scholars.
When they ran Park’s dissertation through a program known as “Plagiarism checking program” they found that one of the pages included same components from a dissertation written by another scholar.
It even included the same spelling errors and graph as the original dissertation.
Park explained that even though there might be some similarities he alone wrote his dissertation.
However, the scholars who Park allegedly plagiarized from accused Park of using their research without consent.
Earlier on Monday, Park received spotlight after making some unusual religious statements.
In his book published in 2013, titled "Love is Care," Park claims he "came to Earth 47 times in different forms" as a human or something else. He also insists he met Jeon Bong-jun, a prominent leader of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894, in one of his 47 past lives, and Jeon gifted him a diary of the kings of end-Joseon Kingdom era.He also states, "If a person dies, his body disappears, but his soul goes to the sky with two memory chips … there is a black box in the sky. My soul is in my body while the black box of my soul is in the sky. If I empty my head and contemplate, I can get the information I need from my black box."
In response to reports on his shamanistic activities, Park said it was just a cultural event, which he said was held for those who were anxious about North Korea's military threats and the rising risk of earthquakes.
However, Park did not deny the words in his book, saying he just wrote on his understanding about meditation.