Sookmyung Women’s University Professors’ Council has urged the university to start as soon as possible, saying that the main investigation to verify the plagiarism of Kim Gun-hee’s master’s thesis is being delayed for unknown reasons.
In a statement, the Sook University Faculty Association said, “We request that the headquarters be faithful to the regulations and begin the main investigation as soon as possible and complete the judgment on the suspicion of plagiarism of Kim Kun-hee’s master’s thesis after a fair investigation.”
The Faculty Association criticized the University Research Ethics and Integrity Committee for delaying the conduct of the main investigation without any clear reason, even though it determined that it was necessary to conduct a preliminary investigation after the University Research Ethics and Integrity Committee started a preliminary investigation in February of this year.
The Faculty Association said, “According to the regulations of the committee, it is stipulated that the main investigation must be initiated within 30 days after the preliminary investigation is approved, and the main investigation, including the decision, must be completed within 90 days from the start of the investigation. We have already violated the rules we made,” he pointed out.
The Faculty Association also said, “If a university, which should consider academic independence and autonomy as the most important values, is swayed by external views, the university itself will lose its purpose of existence.” It is a way to keep honesty and fairness.”
Suspicion has been raised that many of the contents of ‘Paul Klee’s Study on the Characteristics of Painting’, which Ms. Kim submitted to the Graduate School of Education at Sookmyung Women’s University in 1999, had been plagiarized.
Reporter Kwak Hye-jin