Lee Jin-sook, the candidate for Minister of Education, apologized on the 16th regarding allegations of plagiarism in papers written during her time as a professor and controversies over her children's early study abroad, while refusing to resign.
During the personnel hearing held in the morning at the National Assembly's Education Committee, when Representative Jin Sun-mi of the Democratic Party questioned her, saying, "You must sincerely apologize for the aspects that do not meet the public's expectations, such as early study abroad for your children and the paper issue of your students," Lee replied, "I sincerely apologize for the suspicion that arose due to factors not aligning with the public's expectations."
Both of the candidate's daughters studied abroad early in the United States. In the process, suspicions arose that the candidate violated the Primary and Secondary Education Act during her children's early study abroad. Private study abroad qualifications are considered legal if one of the parents goes abroad and accompanies the child, as both Lee and her husband worked as professors at a domestic university when their younger daughter studied abroad.
Initially, she said about her two daughters' early study abroad, "As a parent, it was hard to separate, so I tried to dissuade them, but (the eldest) was very determined," and noted, "In such a situation, I could not win and complied with my child's wishes."
Additionally, the candidate said, "In the case of the second child, since the elder sister went, she (went to study abroad)," adding, "When following my sister for study abroad, I only thought about stepping back for a year and a half and did not even recognize whether it was illegal."
Regarding the allegations of plagiarism in papers written during her time as a professor, the candidate stated, "What is reported in the media comes from a situation that does not understand the realities of academia."
She said, "From 2007 until her appointment as president of Chungnam National University, approximately 100 papers were verified by Chungnam National University together with external experts, and all were determined to have a plagiarism rate of less than 10%," and added, "The plagiarism detector increases the similarity rate every time similar materials overlap."
Moreover, the candidate remarked, "The plagiarism detector increases the similarity rate every time similar materials overlap," stating, "Therefore, to obtain an accurate similarity rate, experts must exclude each one and test them accurately."
Furthermore, regarding the allegations of having appropriated her students' papers, she explained, "When writing papers in the sciences, co-researchers debate the contributions to the paper and decide on the first author accordingly," and added, "In the case of the sciences, graduate students' thesis research is conducted based on national projects or research tasks that the supervising professor has acquired."
She further stated, "Typically, the student will proceed with details of the tasks and develop them into his or her thesis paper in a conventional (paper) presentation sequence," and added, "Therefore, thesis research often constitutes part of the research tasks performed by the supervising professor, and the first author should be determined considering the contributions between the supervising professor and graduate students, as specified in the guidelines of the research foundation."
The candidate noted, "In my case, cases where I co-authored papers with my students as the first author represent about 30% of the total," adding, "The remaining 70% were conducted as co-research with my students or as collaborative research."
In response, Representative Kim Dae-sik of the People Power Party asked, "Do you have any intention of resigning for the success of the Lee Jae-myung government?" The candidate replied, "Although many people have expressed their opposition, a majority of professors have issued supportive statements."