Hong Jin-young made a comeback after about a year and five months after the controversy over plagiarism. Photo l IMH EntertainmentSinger Hong Jin-young (37) returned to the music industry with the new digital single ‘Viva La Vida’. It has been about a year and 5 months since she stopped all her activities due to the controversy over plagiarism of her thesis. frankly told
It must have been a difficult decision to choose face-to-face interview with reporters for the first comeback after the controversy. When asked why she made this decision, Jinyoung Hong said, “Actually, she didn’t read articles much during that time, but she told me that there were a lot of articles even when she wasn’t active around. (About the controversy, etc.) I thought it would be better for me to speak with my own mouth, so I decided to prepare a place for you,” she said.
Hong Jin-young said that he was hurt by human relationships during the hiatus. Photo l IMH EntertainmentJinyoung Hong, who received a master’s degree from Chosun University in May 2009, was exposed to suspicion of plagiarism when it was announced in November 2020 that the thesis ‘Exporting Korean Wave Cultural Contents Overseas’ showed a plagiarism rate of 74% in the ‘Copy Killer’ test result. engulfed Hong Jin-young’s side explained that she was “quoting, not plagiarism,” right after the controversy broke out, but she changed her position to “Things that were considered customary at the time” when a former professor of Chosun University’s declaration of conscience came out.
The Research Integrity Committee under the Research Ethics Center at Chosun University conducted an investigation for about a month and concluded that Jinyoung Hong’s master’s thesis was plagiarized, and Hong’s master’s and doctoral degrees were revoked. Hong Jin-young, who was active in various entertainment programs, got off all broadcasting after her controversy, and spent more than a year in self-reflection without any extraneous activities.
When asked if there were any regrets related to the plagiarism controversy, Hong Jin-young said, “When it first happened, I had no place to ask for advice. She thought, ‘If I admit this, people who liked me might turn their backs on me’, and she was very afraid and afraid. So she made excuses. It seems that she made a hasty judgment and reacted incorrectly. That part was disappointing and I regretted it. She thinks, ‘What would it have been like if I had recognized it from the beginning?’ “I’m most sorry for disappointing me,” she said.
He said that he had a difficult time during the sleepover period. Hong Jin-young said, “I think half of it was crazy. As a human being, it was very difficult mentally. Also, being in this kind of situation, I got hurt because of people. It was hard mentally because I was going through a lot of things at once. So, while making candles and diffusers, I tried to keep my mind and body stable,” she said.
When asked what kind of wounds he had, he said, “The wounds I received from human relationships were great.
I thought I was good at managing my personal network for 10 years, but as the rest period got longer, the people around me were clearly divided. He was someone I thought was really close, but there were times when I didn’t answer the phone or answered bluntly. But when the comeback article came out, people who had not been contacted contacted me again. I think I was hurt as a person while going through that process.”
Nevertheless, Hong Jin-young said that he was able to survive even in difficult situations thanks to those who supported him.
“It is difficult to reveal the name (in case it will cause any harm), but a certain senior called me three or four times a week. He said ‘I’m always praying for you’, and he told me a lot of good stories. Another senior told me, ‘I’m going to be a great senior, so take care of your health’, and there was also a senior who said, ‘If you need help, call me,’ so it was a big help.” (Continued from interview ②)
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