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| Singer Hong Jin-young (material photo) in controversy over master’s thesis plagiarism. /© News1 |
The Chosun University Graduate Committee decided that singer Hong Jin-young’s master’s thesis was plagiarized.
On the 23rd, the Chosun University Graduate Committee held a final deliberation on Hong Jin-young’s thesis and degree and made this announcement.
The Graduate School Committee said, “Thesis was finalized as plagiarism,” and said, “Accordingly, we have initiated an administrative procedure for canceling the degree.”
He added, “We will reinforce the duty of guidance and supervision to prevent violations of research ethics, such as plagiarism, which has been given to thesis advisor since 2011, and will operate a research ethics management system more thoroughly.”
Jinyoung Hong obtained his master’s and doctorate degrees in trade from the Graduate School of Chosun University in 2009 and 2013, respectively.
Earlier last month, suspicion of plagiarism was raised against Hong Jin-young’s master’s thesis at Chosun University’s graduate school,’A Study on the Trend of Cultural Contents Industry through Hallyu’.
On November 5, when the suspicion was raised, Hong Jin-young said, “Hong Jin-young faithfully participated in the research and writing process,” and said, “The thesis is Hong Jin-young’s creation, and I would like to inform you that there was no plagiarism of other thesis.”
However, the plagiarism controversy continued, and Hong Jin-young announced his position the next day through his Instagram.
Hong Jin-young said, “The parts that were passed without problems at the time are now judged by only a few percent, so whatever I say, it can only be seen as an excuse, and I am frustrated and upset.”
He also confessed, “I think this is also a part of my responsibility, and now that I think about it, it was clothes that didn’t suit me.” He said, “I will return my master’s and doctoral degrees,” he apologized, saying, “All of this is unconcerned and wrong.”
On the date of the controversy, Chosun University held the Graduate School Committee on November 13, and referred the investigation of thesis plagiarism to the Research Integrity Committee under the University Research Ethics Committee.
Earlier this month, the Research Integrity Committee tentatively judged it as plagiarism by examining whether Jinyoung Hong’s master’s thesis was plagiarized and reported it to the Graduate School.
On the afternoon of the 18th, Hong Jin-young submitted his vocational data and apologized to his social network service (SNS) for the controversy over thesis plagiarism, saying, “I sincerely apologize and ask for forgiveness even now.”
He also said, “I accept the provisional conclusion of the plagiarism of Chosun University, and I will deeply regret it,” he said. “I have made too much excuse for those who are preparing their master’s and doctoral dissertation day and night, I am sorry. I will admit and reflect on everything.”