Leejin Sook, the nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, appeared before a parliamentary hearing amid ongoing controversies involving improper author attribution, duplicate publication, plagiarism, and accusations of illegal luxury study abroad for her children. Known for her typically glamorous appearance with heavy makeup in the media, she attended the hearing with a bare face.
During the hearing held by the National Assembly’s Education Committee on the 16th, nominee Lee stated in her opening remarks, “For the past 36 years, I have worked as an educator at universities, served as the president of a regional national university, and chaired the Council of National and Public University Presidents, continuously contemplating our education system. I am determined to do my best to successfully implement the education policies of Lee Jae-myung’s administration based on my experiences.”
The main focus of the hearing is how Lee will address the controversies surrounding her. She is under intense scrutiny from the opposition for issues including alleged plagiarism of academic papers she wrote during her tenure as a professor.
The biggest controversy involves the plagiarism of academic papers. It is alleged that while a professor at Chungnam National University’s Department of Architectural Engineering, Lee summarized and published her students’ master’s and doctoral theses in multiple journals without proper attribution, sometimes listing herself as the primary author.
According to the findings released by the “Comprehensive Academic Verification Team,” which previously reviewed the thesis of Kim Gun-hee, on July 14, Lee published eight papers without disclosing them as her students’ theses, including one with a 52% plagiarism rate.
Among two papers published by Lee as the corresponding author without acknowledging them as her students’ theses, one titled “Assessment of the Impact on the Formative Elements of Patterns Composing Interior Spaces in Architecture (2006)” showed a plagiarism rate of 56%.
In response to the plagiarism allegations, Lee asserted that she was the “substantial author,” but the suspicions persist, especially since spelling errors in the students’ theses were also copied. As a result, she faces charges including fraud and copyright infringement related to the plagiarism allegations.
Lee is also under criticism for sending her two children abroad for early education. It was revealed that her younger daughter, then a middle school student, studied abroad without completing compulsory middle school education, violating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Lee admitted to the truth of these claims and apologized, stating, “I am sorry that this does not meet the public’s expectations.” However, the fact that a potential education minister violated the education law, along with concerns about the distrust in public education and high costs of luxury overseas education, remain contentious issues.
Moreover, there could be further discussions regarding Lee’s tenure as president of Chungnam National University, which was reportedly marked by communication failures and authoritative administration, such as the aggressive expansion of the medical school enrollment and opposition to the installation of a comfort woman statue on campus.