--- description: Some 200 professors are accused of selling books by others under their own names. title: 200 Korean Professors Charged in Massive Plagiarism Scam image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Korea](/tag/south-korea/) ## South Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 200 South Korean Professors Charged in Massive Plagiarism Scam by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2015 9:34 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2015 9:34 AM CUT South Korea is set to indict [200 professors](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151124001042 "undefined") from several of the country’s universities for alleged copyright violations after they republished books by other authors under their own names, the _Korea Herald_ newspaper reported Wednesday. Professors from 50 universities, as well as four employees of a publishing company, are implicated in the scandal, Korean prosecutors said, with most of them having already confessing their involvement. The professors’ actions were reportedly done in a bid to boost their academic standing before rehiring-related assessments. The _Herald_ also reported that many of the original authors were also complicit in the scheme for fear of invoking the publishers’ displeasure over future book deals. If found guilty, the accused will likely face immediate dismissal as well as up to five years in prison and fines equivalent to over $43,000. \[[_Korea Herald_](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151124001042 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4126853/south-korea-professors-books-plagiarism-authors-publishers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4126853/south-korea-professors-books-plagiarism-authors-publishers/"},"headline":"200 South Korean Professors Charged in Massive Plagiarism Scam","datePublished":"2015-11-25T09:34:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:54:05.614Z","description":"Some 200 professors from up to 50 universities are implicated","url":"https://time.com/4126853/south-korea-professors-books-plagiarism-authors-publishers/","keywords":["South Korea","Books","Plagiarism","scam","universities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-korea/","name":"South Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4126853/south-korea-professors-books-plagiarism-authors-publishers/","name":"200 South Korean Professors Charged in Massive Plagiarism Scam"}}]}] ```