Minister of Environment Yoon Seong-kyu is facing an investigation by a university panel on suspicion of plagiarizing parts of his doctoral dissertation.

His alma mater Hanyang University said Wednesday that it would form a research ethics committee to investigate the allegations first raised by lawmaker Chang Ha-na from the opposition Democratic United Party.

Chang said during Yoon’s confirmation hearing last month that the introduction, research methods and conclusion were largely similar to those of a report created by researchers at Hyundai Engineering and Construction in 2012.

The minister denied deliberately copying the work, saying he used the same data but drew a different conclusion.

“If there are identical sentences in my thesis, that may be because I asked the Hyundai researchers to proofread my thesis, and they made the corrections and alterations,” he told the hearing committee.

A five-member team led by professor Kim Woo-seung is to begin the investigation this week. The investigation could last up to 90 days.

Hanyang has not yet decided what action to take if Minister Yoon is found guilty of plagiarism, a school official told The Korea Herald.

Minister Yoon received his Master’s degree in sustainable architectural engineering in February for his thesis on food waste water treatment.

He is among a growing number of high-ranking officials and celebrities accused of cheating on their academic papers including, most recently, radio host Kim Mi-hwa, popular lecturer Kim Mi-kyung, and National Police Agency chief-nominee Lee Sung-han.

Yoon, 56, an expert in environmental engineering, has more than 20 years of experience in the Environmental Ministry and affiliated institutions.

From 2005 to 2008, he took the helm of the National Institute of Environmental Research, and also worked at the state-run Korea Meteorological Service before becoming a professor at the environmental engineering research institute at Hanyang University.

By Lee Sang-ju (sjlee730@heraldcorp.com)