The Ministry of Education is launching a comprehensive audit of Kookmin University. It comes five months after Minister Choi Kyo-jin said the ministry would actively consider an audit.
The Ministry of Education said on the 10th, "From the 13th to the 24th, we will conduct a 10-day comprehensive audit of Kookmin University," adding, "We took into account that issues related to university management have been continuously raised in the National Assembly and elsewhere." This is the first time since its founding that Kookmin University will undergo a comprehensive audit by the Ministry of Education.
The audit will not be limited to specific issues but will cover the overall operation, including the school foundation and university organization, personnel, admissions, academic affairs, accounting, and facilities.
Although the Ministry of Education did not specify particular audit items, there is speculation it will include various allegations surrounding Ms. Kim, who earned a doctorate at Kookmin University.
Earlier, Kookmin University drew controversy after purchasing 240,000 shares of Deutsch Motors. When it became known that the board did not go through deliberation and resolution procedures at the time, questions were raised over the circumstances of the stock purchase.
Kookmin University also reversed its decision regarding Ms. Kim's doctoral qualification, an issue that has flared since 2021. Ms. Kim's doctoral dissertation at Kookmin University's Graduate School of Techno Design in design studies, along with three papers she published in journals while enrolled, has faced allegations of research misconduct, including plagiarism.
In Aug. 2022, Kookmin University said, "It is not plagiarism." However, when Sookmyung Women's University revoked Ms. Kim's master's degree in June 2025, Kookmin University said, "If the master's degree is revoked, the doctoral degree cannot be recognized," and nullified it.
Meanwhile, Minister Choi Kyo-jin said at a full meeting of the National Assembly Education Committee in Nov. last year, in response to a remark by Education Committee Chair Kim Young-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea that a comprehensive audit of Kookmin University was necessary, "We will actively review it."