Parties trade barbs in Assembly audit over first lady's alleged plagiarism

The National Assembly Education Committee holds a parliamentary audit of the education ministry at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) clashed at the National Assembly Education Committee's annual audit, Tuesday, over allegations that first lady Kim Keon-hee committed academic plagiarism despite the absences of key witnesses.

At the beginning of the session, the DPK lawmakers said that eight out of 10 of the key witnesses requested to appear ― including Kookmin University President Yim Hong-jae and Sookmyung Women's University President Chang Yun-keum ― did not show up for the parliamentary audit citing last-minute "overseas business trips." The PPP lawmakers, on the other hand, criticized their DPK counterparts for unilaterally pushing ahead with the requests for the witnesses to appear without their consent.

The first lady has been mired in allegations that she plagiarized some of her academic papers and Ph.D. dissertation while attending Kookmin University's Graduate School of Techno Design.

None of the key requested witnesses, including Lim and Chang, was present during the early sessions of the parliamentary audit. During the additional questioning session starting from 5 p.m., Gu Yeon-sang, a professor of general education at Sookmyung Women's University who has been claiming since August that his research paper had been plagiarized by Kim, was present.

Two former officials of the Korea Society of Design Trend, which published Kim's papers in its journal, also showed up. They said that the society followed the verification results of Kookmin University's inspection at the time and stressed that they are unable to remove Kim's paper from the journal because they no longer hold positions there.

Meanwhile, PPP lawmakers said that the allegations of plagiarism against the first lady are not an appropriate subject for discussion at the parliamentary hearing.

Rep. Seo Byung-soo of the PPP said the issue is a "matter of personal misconduct," as she was neither married nor in a public position when she received her doctorate. Kookmin University is wholly responsible for verifying the plagiarism allegations and reinforcing the academic code of conduct, according to the lawmaker.

PPP Rep. Kim Byung-wook accused the opposition party of having a double standard for the academic ethics of public figures. The plagiarism allegations against former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and DPK party leader Lee Jae-myung have not been inspected by the justice ministry and the plagiarism allegations against the first lady have already been cleared by her alma mater so are no longer a suitable topic for the audit, he said.

In August, Kookmin University denied that the first lady had committed academic plagiarism after an eight-month probe into two of her research papers and her Ph.D. thesis, concluding that, while they include "shortcomings including English translations and quotations," which might be "inappropriate according to the current standards," such "insufficiencies" don't constitute plagiarism.

As the results of the probe drew a backlash from a nationwide group of professors, DPK lawmakers insisted that the committee summon Jeon Seung-kyu, a professor at Kookmin University's department of entertainment design, who had supervised Kim's doctoral thesis. Unlike the other key witnesses, Jeon did not say he was traveling abroad and instead said he could not attend the parliamentary audit session because his classes end at 5 p.m.

However, Jeon was neither lecturing at Kookmin University between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. nor did he answer phone calls, according to the DPK.

DPK Rep. Kang Min-jung underscored that those who refuse to comply with the National Assembly's summons for parliamentary audits are subject to a maximum of three years in prison and a maximum fine of 30 million won ($21,000), under the Act of the Inspection and Investigation of State Administration.

Meanwhile, a new allegation has been raised that one of the first lady's published academic articles was forged.

DPK Rep. Seo Dong-yong raised an objection that Kim's academic article on digital content users, which was published in the Journal of Korea Design Forum in 2009, copied the results of a survey with 400 respondents of her previous paper on golf country club users, published in the Korean Journal of Physical Education in 2008. Thus, the lawmaker claimed that Kim counterfeited the academic paper by quoting research that was never conducted and called upon the ministry to investigate the allegation.

Vice Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon answers the Education Committee lawmakers' questions during the parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

In response, Vice Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon repeated the ministry's position that the responsibility for the verification of research ethics lies within the universities and their affiliated organizations. Research ethics disputes should be settled independently and reinforced by academic institutions to guarantee their academic freedom and autonomy, the vice minister said.

The ministry has been in a leadership vacuum for over 50 days since former Education Minister Park Soon-ae resigned in August. The vice minister attended the parliamentary audit, Tuesday, as the committee's qualification hearing on Lee Ju-ho, the newly nominated ministerial candidate, has not been conducted yet.

According to Gu, neither Kookmin University nor the education ministry reached out to him to verify the plagiarism allegations. The professor urged the ministry to establish regulations on monitoring and punishing plagiarism and protecting its victims, while calling on the academic community to bolster accountability and honesty.