Education minister offers to resign over thesis scandal

South Korea's Education Minister Kim Byong-joon offered to resign on Wednesday, holding himself responsible for the growing suspicions he plagiarized his thesis and engaged in other unethical behavior in the past, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

"Minister Kim visited Cheong Wa Dae this morning to meet with President Roh Moo-hyun and expressed his intention to quit," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Tae-ho said.

"Kim also said he felt relieved after clearing up much of the suspicions surrounding him at a National Assembly session on the previous day."

But it was not immediately known whether the president would accept his resignation.

The minister also released a brief statement through his ministry spokesman, saying he does not want to put political burdens on the president and the ruling Uri Party any longer.

"Most of the suspicions have been cleared through Tuesday's parliamentary session. I want to take a rest for the time being."

The 52-year-old Kim, one of President Roh's most trusted policy advisors, took office just 12 days ago as the education minister, which carries the status of a deputy prime minister. He left Cheong Wa Dae in late May after serving as chief presidential secretary for national policy for about two years.

Kim's scandal of alleged thesis plagiarism broke out just three days after he took office on July 21, when a vernacular daily disclosed that he was suspected of plagiarizing his pupil's doctoral thesis in 1987 while serving as a political science professor at Seoul's Kookmin University.

The allegation has since been followed by other newspaper reports revealing his multiple publications of a single thesis, suspected embezzlement of state academic subsidies and a suspicious 'money-for-doctorate' deal with a local politician.

Despite the growing public suspicions, Kim had stubbornly refused to resign and even angrily declared on Tuesday that he had no intention to quit.

Kim's resignation, meanwhile, is expected to deal a political blow to President Roh in consideration of their close ties dating back to 2002, when Kim joined Roh's presidential campaign after having long served at Kookmin University.

Citing his long relationship with Roh, some called Kim one of the most trusted figures in the president's inner circle. He once headed a presidential commission on government reforms and decentralization.

In March, Roh seriously considered naming Kim as prime minister, though the president finally chose Uri Party lawmaker Han Myeong-sook for the post.

When the president announced his selection of Kim as the new education minister, opposition parties and even some members of the ruling party opposed his Cabinet post, associating him with what they call the Roh administration's policy failure in the real estate field.

Seoul, Aug. 2 (Yonhap News)