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            Plagiarism Imperiling South Korea's Academic Reputation

   by Steve Herman

   SEOUL -  The South Korean education system has won global praise. U.S.
   President Barack Obama has held it up as an example, saying America
   should emulate some aspects of it. But, in South Korea some of the top
   universities are facing criticism for numerous high-profile cases of
   plagiarism. And, some insiders acknowledge such cheating is well
   entrenched.
   At one of South Korea's premier educational institutions, Seoul
   National University, two professors are being accused of fabricating
   stem cell research in papers submitted to international journals.
   It echoes a case at the same school in 2005 when a high-profile
   professor, Hwang Woo-suk, faced global condemnation for manipulating
   cloning experiments.
   In recent months, two lawmakers also faced allegations of copying work
   for their doctoral dissertations. In past years, a president of a
   highly-regarded university and an education minister also lost their
   jobs when it was revealed they had also fabricated academic work.
   A graduate student at Korea University, who only wants to be identified
   by his surname Kim, says he noticed when he was enrolled in secondary
   schools and colleges in the United States the concept of plagiarism was
   pretty well established.
   "In Korea that history may not be as long. So there still isn't a huge
   consensus, in general, amongst all Koreans as to what plagiarism
   actually means. What's the extent of plagiarism and whether plagiarism
   itself is acceptable or not?" he said.
   At the Seoul National University of Education, ethics education
   professor Lee In-jae says all of the high-profile incidents demonstrate
   even top South Korean officials are insensitive to plagiarism.
   The professor says such revelations cause reputations to instantly
   collapse. And, if South Korea's academic society ever wants to reach a
   world-class level then it must rid itself of such ethical problems.
   When education minister, Lee Ju-ho, was asked the how seriously he
   takes the problem he replied it is not as bad as it used to be.
   Lee says these incidents became prominent seven or eight years ago, but
   the problem has mainly disappeared since then because of increased
   awareness and training. But he says he wants to put more effort into
   eradicating plagiarism.
   Korea University student Kim says the scant efforts being made to
   educate college students about the matter are actually not very
   effective.
   "Korean universities usually have at least one class or some kind of
   seminar in the beginning of the semester to talk about plagiarism. But
   as far as I know it is also quite optional," Kim stated. "So there are
   a lot of people who just don't go to the seminar."
   Professor Lee at the Seoul National University of Education  says
   educating students to understand it is unethical to make even seemingly
   minor mistakes, such as not citing references, needs to be taught in
   elementary schools.
   The ethics educators say, if young students learn it is wrong to copy
   their classmates homework, then they will be able to do honest term
   papers when they reach university or proper research if they become
   professionals.
   Students such as Kim have noticed that professors from the United
   Kingdom and the United States on his campus are having a positive
   effect.
   "One professor in my grad school found a student plagiarizing and
   automatically gave that student a zero," said Kim. "And I am hearing
   more of those [incidents] these days."
   But so many students still appear to have no hesitation about ethical
   shortcuts that a lucrative online industry has been created to cater to
   them. Brokers match graduate students with those willing to ghostwrite.
   A master's thesis can be custom authored for as little as $1,400 while
   dissertations for a PhD are being offered from about $2,700.
   A JoonAng newspaper report quotes a broker saying their main customers
   are businessmen and office workers lacking time to do academic
   research, but in a hurry to obtain advanced degrees to give them an
   advantage over their peers in South Korea's highly competitive society.
   Additional reporting by Youmi Kim.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/plagiarism-imperililng-south-koreas-a
   cademic-reputation/1147381.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/plagiarism-imperililng-south-koreas-academic-reputation/1147381.html