http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200607/kt2006072419123110510.htm

Education Minister Refutes Plagiarism Allegations
    

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Education Minister
Kim Byoung-joon
Kim Byoung-joon, minister of education and human resources development, denied yesterday the allegation that he plagiarized a paper of one of his former students to publish a thesis of his own.

He made the refutation through his spokesman after a local daily Kukmin Ilbo reported yesterday that Kim copied the contents of a doctoral dissertation written by one of his students in 1988 when he was a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University.

According to the daily, Kim's paper, which was published in the June 1988 edition of the journal of the Korean Association for Public Administration, had several sentences and terms that were identical to an earlier study written by his student, identified only as Shin. The main thesis of both papers was similar as was the data used to prove the theories, according to the newspaper.

The minister said he could not remember what was published in the journal as it was printed 19 years ago. He said he has made it a rule to write footnotes without fail in writing papers.

Minister Kim recalled that his student Shin copied part of his 1985 paper but Shin's doctoral dissertation passed the screening process. Shin was seriously ill in 1987 and later died.

``Minister Kim has been an expert on public administration analysis and Kim published the disputed paper two months before Shin printed his own thesis,'' Kim's spokesman said.

``Shin, one of Kim's students, used the basic skills and methods provided in Kim's study and used it in his paper, under a prior agreement with Kim,'' said the spokesman. Kim is willing to ask the Korean Association for Public Administration to determine whether Shin's paper should be ruled as plagiarism.

The opposition Grand National Party urged Kim to clarify the allegation in detail. GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said, ``It is ridiculous for an education minister to became involved in this kind of scandal. Morality is one of the core elements that public office holders like Kim should have. I question whether Kim is a man of integrity as is widely claimed.''

The Democratic Labor Party said, ``Though the minister himself cannot remember everything precisely, the suspicions sounds quite persuasive. If all the allegations turn out to be true, should he still head the ministry?''

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
07-24-2006 19:12