Korean Professor Under Probe for Allegedly Blocking Whistleblower's Thesis

A university professor indicted for allegedly receiving a luxury handbag from a graduate student is now under investigation for reportedly blocking the whistleblower's academic paper from online databases in apparent retaliation.

The Ministry of Education has launched an inquiry into whether the professor abused academic authority to disadvantage the person who reported the misconduct.

According to the Seoul Economic Daily's reporting on June 4, the Ministry of Education recently detected circumstances suggesting Professor A at a private university in Seoul used an academic society where the professor serves as chairman to have former student B's thesis removed from academic databases.

"After I reported Professor A's acceptance of gifts to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, I discovered my paper was forcibly blocked from academic database services in March last year, just before the police investigation," B claimed.

The paper had been published in an academic journal where Professor A holds influence as an editor before being registered in the database. The database company reportedly told B when asked about the blocking that "a request came from the society's secretary-general citing 'a conflict relationship.'"

A database company official told the Seoul Economic Daily, "The academic society holds the copyright to the paper, so when they request removal citing problems, we have no choice but to comply."

The timing of the blocking—just before police questioning—has raised suspicions of "intentional retaliation" designed to psychologically pressure and intimidate the whistleblower. In academia, removing a paper from databases is generally considered devastating to an author, as it effectively cuts off circulation by blocking access to the original text and citations. This can eliminate evidence of the author's degree qualifications and expertise, potentially harming future career prospects.

If the Ministry of Education's investigation confirms the retaliatory nature of these actions, strong sanctions against the journal could follow. These may include suspension or revocation of candidate status for the Korea Citation Index (KCI) managed by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under the Ministry of Education, restrictions on research funding applications, and submission bans for the author and related parties for a specified period.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office filed for a summary order last year seeking a 3 million won ($2,200) fine against Professor A for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Professor A allegedly received a Louis Vuitton bag worth approximately 3 million won from a student whose graduation thesis the professor was supervising in June 2021, when the professor was a lecturer at a university in the Seoul metropolitan area. During the police investigation, Professor A reportedly stated that as a lecturer at the time, the professor believed the anti-graft law did not apply.

Professor A flatly denied allegations that the thesis removal was retaliatory. "In the course of B's conflict with the society, B received full refunds of publication fees, submission fees, and review fees, resulting in loss of membership status," the professor explained. "With all the money returned, we cannot arbitrarily maintain the paper's publication."

The professor added, "Unlike the early days when papers were exchanged via email, we tried to implement strengthened copyright consent procedures as we recently built a new system, but B was no longer a member, so there were administrative limitations."