First lady Kim Keon Hee / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

Sookmyung Women's University has officially ruled that first lady Kim Keon Hee's master's thesis was plagiarized after the university's alumni association, which raised the allegations, decided not to file an objection, MBC reported Tuesday.

The broadcaster quoted an official from the association as saying, "We initially planned to decide on whether to file an objection after receiving information from the university, such as the plagiarism rate, but the university did not respond despite repeated requests for further explanation. To move forward with the next steps, we have decided not to submit an objection."

Although the deadline to file an objection is April 4, the association's decision has led the university to finalize its ruling of plagiarism, concluding a three-year investigation.

Some members of the university's Research Ethics Integrity Committee argued that it was difficult to classify the thesis as plagiarized. They cited the challenges of reviewing foreign art pieces or literature in Korea in the late 1990s and the lack of strict plagiarism standards or research ethics regulations at the time the thesis was written.

This aligns with President Yoon Suk Yeol's previous stance during the presidential election, when he stated that a thesis written over two decades ago should not be judged by today's standards.

The university's Research Ethics Integrity Committee, which assessed the plagiarism allegations, will discuss follow-up measures within the next 60 days and submit a report to the university president. The Graduate School of Education Committee will then make the final decision on disciplinary action, which could include revoking Kim's degree.

Kim, who received a preliminary notice of plagiarism from the university on Feb. 14, did not submit an objection.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.