(11 Nov 2026) Misconduct inquiries in South Korea meant to be completed within months are taking years instead, according to data from the country’s primary agency for academic research.
Of the 83 misconduct cases the National Research Foundation has overseen since 2021, 49, including some still open, failed to reach a decision within the six-month deadline set by the Ministry of Education. Twenty two cases were open for longer than a year, and some had not progressed beyond the preliminary stages.
The longest completed investigation took 911 days, about 2.5 years, from the start of the preliminary inquiry to a decision. Investigators ultimately found no misconduct in the project, to develop an app for managing breast cancer symptoms with traditional Korean medicine, according to national media.
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