VietNamNet Bridge – A Korean grammar dictionary, popular among students, has been found to be have been plagiarized.

A group of Vietnamese postgraduates in South Korea contacted Nguoi lao dong newspaper and said that Professor Beak Bong Ja from Jonsei University, was angry because her Korean grammar dictionary for foreign learners has been translated and published in Vietnam without permission.

Ly Kinh Hien, the Vietnamese lecturer, is now Head of the South Korean study branch under the Orientalism Faculty of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanity under the HCM City National University.

Nguoi lao dong reporters brought the two books, the Korean grammar dictionary for foreign learners, published in 1999 in South Korea, in Korean language, and the Korean grammar dictionary of Ly Kinh Hien, published in 2007 in Vietnam to the lecturers of Korean language, asking them to compare the books.

The lecturers all said that the content of the two books is the same.

According to Korean study lecturers, the books of Professor Beak Bong Jan have been used widely by teachers and learners of Korean language all over the world. The professor is renowned in South Korea as the author of many books about Korean language and the lecturer of many Vietnamese students.

Ly Kinh Hien, whom Nguoi lao dong reporters met to clarify the information about the copyright infringement, admitted that he translated the book of Professor Beak Bong Ja. Hien said that the professor was once his teacher in 2002 in South Korea. It was the professor who gave him the book.

Hien went on to say that he found the book very interesting and useful, therefore, he translated the book and cooperated with Gia Vu Company in printing and publishing the book in Vietnam.

“Why did you call yourself the author of the book?” Hien said that he did not totally understand the copyright law and that at the time of publishing, copyright was not applied in Vietnam.

He stressed that he translated the book just to help students study Korean language more effectivel – not to make money. Besides, at that time, he did not know how to contact Professor Beak Bong Ja.

“I will contact the author to apologize for the problem and I will pay royalties as they are demanded,” Hien said.

Explaining the printing and publishing of the book, Vu Dinh Than, Director of Gia Vu Company said that in 2004, no one paid attention to copyright laws. Therefore, the publishing house has agreed to cooperate with Ly Kinh Hien to publish the book.

“Hien should have asked for the permission from the author before translating the book,” Than said.

Two thousand of the Korean grammar dictionaries have been published. Gia Vu paid 22,920,000 dong to Ly Kinh Hien for the book.

VietNamNet/NLD