South Korean Education Minister Kim Byong-joon was urged to resign on Thursday amid scandal of thesis plagiarism.

"Allegations on Kim's plagiarism and thesis inflation are continuously erupting and those are serious matters for the education chief," said Jeon Jae-hee, chief policymaker of the GNP.

"If the allegations are all true, he should voluntarily step down," Jeon said.

Jeon's remarks came after Kim admitted earlier on Thursday that he had published identical research papers in two academic journals in 2001, when Kim was a professor in a university, as if they were separate papers as part of government-funded research.

"This was surely my fault, as a researcher is supposed to be in charge (of his own research papers), though I believe there were mistakes by my assistant researchers," Kim told reporters.

Local reports said Kim also has suspicion of plagiarizing a student's thesis in his research paper. However, Kim insisted the student used data from his paper.

Following the GNP's request of Kim's resignation, the Presidential Office of Cheong Wa Dae said it is not considering sacking Kim.

Source: Xinhua