On April 25, the Ministry of Education announced the results of verification of research papers co-written by underage highschool students. Out of the 10 people who were confirmed to have been illegally registered as co-authors, two students were from KU. One of them was Min Cho, daughter of the former Justice Minister Kuk Cho, and the other was a student that graduated from the College of Medicine in 2016. Both students received aid through their parents personal connections and social status during the admission process.

The Seoul National University (SNU) Research Ethics Team investigated two Science Citation Index (SCI) papers that the medical student had allegedly participated in as co-authors, along with two SNU professors. The inspections revealed that the student’s father was one of the professors’ colleagues and confirmed that the student had scantily contributed to the papers. As a result, the Ministry of Education has decided to cancel the admission of this student, and individuals involved in this illicit practice were punished accordingly as well. The Ministry of Education vows to improve the system for admission process to establish stronger ethics and fairness to prevent illegal acts.