Song Yoo-geun

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Song Yoo Geun Template:Linktext
Born	(1997-11-27) November 27, 1997
Nationality	Template:Flag
Known for	Korea's youngest university student

Song Yoo Geun (born November 27, 1997) at the age of 8 became South Korea's youngest university student. In October 2005, he was accepted into Inha University.

Song Yoo Geun left a prodigy school he attended in 2003 because it wasn't providing him a sufficient academic challenge. After six months of independent study, Yoo Geun was able to solve pre-calculus problems.

Song during his interview with Inha University, demonstrated that he has an understanding of the Schrödinger equation, a partial differential equation which is of central importance to quantum mechanics theory.

In 2015, The Astrophysical Journal retracted a paper by Song because it plagiarised a 2002 book chapter.

Childhood

In August of 2004, at age 6, Song passed the certification exam for becoming an Information Processing Technician, becoming the youngest ever to do so. In November of the same year, his parents tried to enroll him at a local elementary school (Shim Seok Elementary School) as a sixth grader. Although the school allowed this at first, it later reversed its decision, citing administrative difficulties. Song's parents took the elementary school to court, where the court ruled that the school's decision was unlawful in April of 2005, allowing Song to study there as a sixth grader.

As Korean students must enroll in middle school within 30 days of the beginning of the school year, Song could not enroll in middle school even after winning the lawsuit. Song's parents decided to opt for a Korean equivalent of the GED. Song passed the test that gives him the right to enroll in high school in May of 2005, and he passed the test that certifies him as a high school graduate in August of 2005. Thus, he finished the twelve-year curriculum spanning elementary school – middle school – high school in nine months, setting a new record.

In October of 2005, he applied and was accepted to Inha University through its early decision plans, which allows exceptional students to bypass the Korean equivalent of SATs at age 7. Considering his young age, Inha University formed a committee of seven, named "Song Yoo-Geun Committee," including professors and his mother, who gave him private lessons instead of the usual classroom style lectures. Inha University also provided Song with his own lab, and a residence space, so that he can stay with his parents, at his parents' request. His first semester GPA was 3.8/4.5, approximately equivalent to a B+. However, In December of 2008, mere two years after he has begun his studies, he decided to withdraw from Inha University, citing the reason that it was "difficult to study within the framework that the professor has arbitrarily decided for themselves." He said, "I want to study string theory or big bang theory, but I cannot do that as an undergraduate student." Instead, he opted to get an on-line degree. Of the 140 credits required for graduation, Song received 53 credits from Inha University, and 113 credits from an on-line degree institution. On this, Inha University said, that it "respects Song's decisions."

Air Purification System Controversy

During a press conference in 2005, after he was admitted to Inha University, he brought a machine that purifies air, and gave a demonstration of it. The press and the Inha University officials reported that Song claimed it to be a machine that he invented himself, to thank the Korean citizens for their support, it became known later that the machine was in fact designed by a small company. According to CEO of JC Technologies, Song's father told him that being able to show off the machine in front of the press will help with its sales, and he had borrowed it from the company. Song's father quickly admitted this misunderstanding, saying that "Song has ambitions to study air purification methods using photosynthesis, so he just did a demonstration. There may have been parts where we were misunderstood, as this was our first large-scale press conference."

Career as a Graduate Student

On receiving his bachelor's degree through an on-line degree institution, he applied and was accepted to University of Science & Technology (UST) as a master's student in February of 2009, with the intention of studying astronomy. Like Inha University, UST formed a committee of professors, titled "Song Yoo-Geun Project," and Song was given private lessons in lieu of classroom lectures. The university set aside 100 million Korean won (approximately $80,000 USD) for Song's classes and research. In February of 2010, UST announced that Song was accepted to its combined master's and Ph.D. program, with the goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in 2012.

Plagiarism Controversy

In 2015, the Astrophysical Journal retracted Song's paper, due to plagiarism.

See also

• List of child prodigies

External links

• Hwang Si-young (November 5, 2005). "Eight-year-old physics genius enters university". Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20051105000024. 
• "Astrophysical Journal Paper Retracted for Plagiarism". American Astronomical Society. November 24, 2015.  - retraction notice for Song Yoo Geun's publication in Astrophysical Journal