Seol Min-seok, a history lecturer who was surrounded by plagiarism suspicions, took the necessary steps to return. The controversy over him, who returned to the broadcasting station in about two years, seems to be re-igniting.
On the 15th, MBN's new entertainment program "Greek Roman Myth - Personal Life of the Gods" (hereinafter referred to as "Personal Life of the Gods"), starring Seol Min-seok, announced four MC lineups, including Seol Min-seok, actor Han Gain, Seoul National University Humanities Research Institute Professor Kim Heon and creative director Han Gemma.
Seol Min-seok was at the center of controversy in December 2020 when allegations of plagiarism in his paper surfaced. When Seol Min-seok was not from the history department but from the theater and film department, his credibility as a star history lecturer was fatal when his thesis submitted to complete a master's degree in history education at the Graduate School of Education was caught up in the plagiarism.
In addition, before the plagiarism controversy, an error was found in the contents of the TVN entertainment program "Never-Never World History" starring Seol Min-seok, raising suspicions about his expertise. The controversy spread out uncontrollably as the plagiarism suspicion broke out, and various historical errors were pointed out based on the broadcast appearance of Seol Min-seok in the past.
As public opinion deteriorated sharply, Seol Min-seok eventually acknowledged that he neglected to study and neglected to cite and footnote in the process of referring to other papers. My indefensible mistake," he admitted to the plagiarism controversy, also getting off all the broadcasts he was appearing on. As a result, MBC 'Broken World History', MBC 'Bigs - Returns', SBS 'AI vs Human', etc. were early ending or editing the entire Seol Min-seok appearance.
Since then, Seol Min-seok has only stopped broadcasting, but still continued his life as a lecturer. In the lecture on the SAT just before the plagiarism controversy, he announced his intention to retire. In the industry, he retired in 19 years, but spent two years in public enterprise Korean history lectures.
In the meantime, in May, Seol Min-seok appeared in OTT content related to history, and it was reported that the broadcast was returning. The OTT program mentioned at the time was 'Personal Life of the Gods' that was broadcast on MBN. Unlike the existing programs that he has been lecturing on the front, he is conscious of the existing controversy of Seol Min-seok, and the production team is showing the intention to raise his expertise by casting another humanities-related experts together.
Public opinion surrounding his return is divided. Some of the public who enjoyed the lecture of Seol Min-seok welcomed his return, but the majority of the netizens are showing their rejection of his quick return. It is pointed out that the professionalism of the instructor who has to give a lecture on history is early return in the situation where the plagiarism has crashed, and that his controversy may reduce the credibility of the entire program.
Seol Min-seok released a message about his heart with the news of the broadcast on the day: "I had a deep reflection time. When I first encountered history, I am spending time looking back on myself while working on my research with my mind. "" I prepared hard to repay those who have given me generous affection and advice with authentic content, and soon I was able to greet you again. " "I do not think my mistakes will be easily washed away during such a short period of self-reliance," he said, pledging to fulfill his role as an information messenger in a responsible attitude. It is noteworthy whether the public will accept his commitment.