[MK이슈]Seol Min-seok, plagiarism of thesis → getting off the broadcast → degree cancellation crisis… The end of the heyday of’Seol-Sam’

[매일경제 스타투데이 박세연 기자]

Star lecturer Seol Min-seok (50) left the broadcaster after acknowledging allegations of plagiarism for his master’s thesis. While the broadcast program he was appearing in is devoted to resolving the situation, Yonsei University is preparing to deliberate on the plagiarism of Seol Min-seok’s thesis.

The suspicion of Seol Min-seok’s plagiarism for his master’s thesis was raised by a dispatch report on the 29th. Seol Min-seok’s master’s thesis “A Study on Ideology Controversy Appeared in Korean Modern and Contemporary History Textbooks” when he graduated from the Graduate School of Education at Yonsei University in 2010 showed a 52% plagiarism rate in the analysis of “Copy Killer”, a site for verifying thesis plagiarism.

Seol Min-seok’s master’s thesis consisted of a total of 747 sentences, of which 187 sentences recorded 100% plagiarism, and 332 questionnaires were analyzed.

In particular,’Copy Killer’ judged that the conclusion of Seol Min-seok’s thesis’Chapter 5 Conclusions and Suggestions’ and the conclusion of the 2007 Sogang University Graduate School of Education’s master’s thesis were 100% consistent.

As the controversy grew, Seol Min-seok wrote on his Facebook page, “We apologize for causing inconvenience and concern to many people due to the plagiarism of master’s thesis reported today. I bow my head and apologize.” He said, “I will feel the responsibility and get off all the shows that are appearing in the future.”

Seol Min-seok said, “I neglected my research in writing the’Ideological Controversy Study in Korean Modern and Contemporary History Textbooks’, which I submitted as a master’s thesis in the Department of History Education at the Graduate School of Education at Yonsei University in 2010, and cited and footnotes in the process of referencing other papers. He admitted that he had neglected the problem,” he admitted to his mistake, saying, “My mistake has no excuse.”

Also, “as an educator and a person who studies history, I deeply apologize once again for my uneasy attitude,” he said. “I apologize for touching all those who believed in my lectures and broadcasts, scholars and educators who are working hard in the academic world. I apologized.

Following Seol Min-seok’s declaration of getting off, tvN’Naked World History’ and MBC’s’Guys Crossing the Line Returns’ are busy preparing countermeasures. The’Naked World History’ side, which is in danger of existence, admits Seol Min-seok’s exit, but is undecided on the direction of the program. ‘Guys who cross the line’ officially announced that he would have a reorganization period for the program by formalizing his alighting.

Among them, Yonsei University plans to discuss whether Seol Min-seok will cancel his degree. As of the 30th, Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Education is preparing to convene the Graduate School Committee to deliberate on the plagiarism of Mr. Seol’s master’s thesis and take further disposition.

According to the Yonsei University Graduate School of Education’s regulations, the president may cancel the conferment of the degree after deliberation by the Graduate School Committee of the University if a person who has received a degree is obtained in an illegal manner. Accordingly, the possibility of the cancellation of Seol Min-seok’s master’s degree also increased.

Seol Min-seok majored in theater and film chemistry at Dankook University, and received a master’s degree in 2010 at Yonsei University Graduate School of Education with his thesis on ideological controversy in Korean modern and contemporary history textbooks.

Since then, since about 2002, he received the title of a star lecturer by teaching Korean history online, and by entering TV, he gained popular popularity with overflowing talks.

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