Dear Colleagues We want tYo inform a sad story in Korean academic community, which must be corrected. In fact, the story will be published in the Mathematical Intelligencer(Springer-Verlag) in the near future. The article and the confirmation letter of the editor, Professor Chandler, follow. We want your support not only for the jutice but also the establishment of a good academic tradition in Korea. Thank you. Best wishes, supporters for righteousness P.S. Currently, the judges in the Seoul higher court have been waiting for the reply on the controversial exam. problem from the Korea Institute of Advanced Study(vice-president Professor Hyochul Myung 고등과학원 부원장, 원장 대리, 명효철, 과학원 수학과 교수 e-mail : myung@math.uni.edu, fax# 82-2-958-3710) since Nov. 1996. Korean Mathematical Society, fax# 82-2-565-0364, email :kms@math.snu.ac.kr ( 대한 수학회장, 장건수, 연세대학교 교수) Ministr of Sciece and Technology, Phone # 82-2-503-7171 Ministry of Education, phone # 82-2-738-7981. * There are supporting letters from Professor Lang at Yale University and Professor Sir Atiyah at Cambridge University, who was the president of Royal society. >> Letter for The Mathematical Intelligencer The Rewards of Honesty ? This is a story of an ill-posed mathematical problem which seems to have led to serious injustice to an innocent young mathematician. We want to bring it to the attention of the readers of this journal, not only because it may carry a lesson, but also in the hope that international reaction could help the victim. Myung Ho Kim, a young US-educated mathematician (Ph.D from University of Michigan, l988) returned to his homeland and assumed the position of Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea, in 1991. In l995, Kim participated in an entrance exam grading, an annual event usually taken very seriously in Korea, where the competition for entrance to college is fierce. During the grading, Kim found a serious mathematical error in the wording of one problem which counted 15 points out of a total of 100 points for the entire mathematical portion of the entrance exam. Here is the misstated problem: *Three non-zero vectors A, B, and C in three-dimensional Euclidean space satisfy the following inequality: | x A + y B + z C | >= |x A| + |y B| for all real numbers x, y, and z. Show that the three vectors are perpendicular to each other. The difficulty pointed out by Kim is that the hypothesis is null: no three non-zero vectors exist satisfying the hypothesis. For distribution to students after the exam, the proposers had written out as the solution a (valid) proof of the conclusion A.B = B.C = A.C = 0. In response to Prof. Kim's observation, they called this part (i) of the solution, then appended as part (ii) the proof that also either A or B is 0. But this seems still unsatisfactory, because it leaves the graders with no possible way to grade the problem fairly: the student who had given only the originally intended solution, part (i) of the posted solution, might claim full credit, yet the courageous student who wrote that the vectors can not be non-zero has given mathematically a much superior answer. Kim therefore persisted in recommending that no weight be given to this question in the grading. This seems to us to be a sensible position, mathematically and pedagogically. Unfortunately, the senior faculty members in the department who were responsible for the error chose instead to fight Kim. Since then, the department as well as the University began to take a number of disciplinary measures against Kim. He was first given a stern warning and was threatened to be barred from teaching for one academic quarter (three months) without salary. Later Kim was denied promotion to Associate Professor (necessary for continuing his appointment); therefore his employment at the University was effectively terminated. We are told that both the suspension and the refusal of promotion were unprecedented in his department. After Kim's firing, a number of younger mathematical faculty in Korean university circles rose to support him, and petitions were circulated protesting the University's unjustified action to the Ministry of Education as well as to the University. The petitions, however, did not help. Kim appealed to the courts, so far unsuccessfully. In his legal plea, Prof. Kim wanted to present to the court an independent authoritative statement that his objection to the contentious examination question was well founded. The Korean Mathematical Society (which naturally has interlocking directorates with Sungkyunkwan University) declined to give such a statement. Prof. Kim therefore turned abroad, and we willingly offered such a statement to the court. What are the lessons of this extraordinary case? As for making a minor blunder in setting problems for an exam, no reproach should be made. Mathematicians make mistakes. But when their mistake is noticed, they should be quick to apologize and retract. To the colleague who pointed out the mistake, the proper professional response is not punishment, but thanks. 서명인들 Lawrence A. Shepp a member of National Academy of Science,미국학술회 회원 Department of Mathematics, Colombia University and AT&T Laboratories Murray Hill, NJ 07974 USA e-mail: las@research.att.com Seymour Schuster Department of Mathematics Carleton College Northfield, MN 55057 USA e-mail: sschuste@mathcs.carleton.edu Cora Sadosky Department of Mathematics Howard University Washington, DC 20059 e-mail: cs@scs.howard.edu Ronald L. Graham, the past president of the Amercan Mathematical Society, 전 미수학회 회장 a member of National Academy of Science, AT&T Laboratories Murray Hill, NJ 17974, USA e-mail: rlg@research.att.com Chandler Davis, the chief editor of the Mathematical Intelligencer 매쓰 인텔리젼스 편집장 the ex-vice president of the American Mathematicel society Department of Mathematics University of Toronto Toronto, M5S 1A1 Canada e-mail: davis@math.toronto.edu Zang Hee Cho Department of Radiological Sciences UC Irvine Irvine, CA 92697, USA, and Department of Information and Communication Korean Institute of Advanced Science and Technology Seoul,Republic of Korea e-mail: zcho@uci.edu >> The Mathematical Intelligencer Chandler Davis Department of Mathematics Editor-in-Chief University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1 Canada e-mail: davis@math.toronto.edu To whom it may concern I solemnly affirm that it is my intention as Editor-in-Chief of the Mathematical Intelligencer to publish in Volume 19 #3 (Summer 1997) the attached letter by L.Sheepp et al concerning the complaint of Dr. M.H. Kim. Chandler Davis Peter Rosenthal Witness(Notarization) April. 1, 1997 Yale Unversity, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8283 16 April 1997 Telephone: (203) 432-4172 Department of Mathematics Fax: (203) 432-7316 10 Hilhouse Avenue P.O. Box 208283 Korean Mathematical Society 대한 수학회 Attn. President, Professor Kun Soo Chang(Yonsei University) 장건수, 연세대학교 수학과 교수 Fax 82-02-565-0364 Korea Institute of Advanced Study 고등과학원 Attn. President Professor Hyochul Myung(KAIST math. adjunct professor) 명효철, 과학원 수학과 교수 Fax 82-2-958-3710 Dear Professors Chang(장건수) and Myung(명효철) Your institutions represent mathematics in Korea. The case of Myung Ho Kim has just been brought to my attention, by a forthcoming article in the Mathematical Intelligencer, and an informative letter on the facts of the case, addressed to the Math Intelligencer by members of the American Mathematical Society, especially a committee of Academic Freedom, Tenure and Employment. The international mathematical community forms a village which is on top of the line in maintaining communications and promoting standards. More than any other group I know, we help each other correct mistakes, hopefully before they are published, but also after they are published. We are trained to do so from the beginning, when we join this community. As those AMS members wrote in their letter, no reproach should be made for making a minor blunder. The problem arises when an establishment does not cooperate to correct the blunder and annul whatever undesirable effects the blunder may have had. I have myself made blunders, and have corrected them in the past as extensively and publicly as I could. I have encouraged students in my classes to find whatever errors they could in my books, and bring them to my attention so I could correct them. I urge you to give support to Myung Ho in his effort to nullify the results of an improperly phrased question in an important examination. Individuals such as Myung Ho deserve the support of their establishment. Our standards are international. It's already unfortunate that the situation has escalated to the point when there has to be an appeal to the international community to set things straight. You have considerable influence to defuse the situation just by straightening it out openly and simply. You will have the appreciation of the international mathematical community, and mine. With best regards, Serge Lang >>>> *Atiyah교수는 자연과분야에서 영국여왕으로 부터 'Sir'작위를 받은 수학자로서 노벨상과 같은 수학 'field'상을 수상하였으며, 20세기후반의 최대의 수학자임. 영국 왕립협회의 회장을 역임 하였으며 현재 뉴튼 연구소의 소장으로서 뉴튼의 계승자로 인정되고 있는 학자임. From Sir Michael Atiyah, O.M. F.R.S The Master's Lodge Trinity College Telephone : (01223) 338400 Cambridge CB2 1TQ Direct line : (01223) 338412 Fax: (01223) 338500 email : jr220@hermes.cam.ac.uk 6th May 1997 Fax message to Professor Kun Soo Chang (장건수, 연세대, 수학과 교수) President Korean Mathematical Society (대한 수학회) Professor Hyochul Myung (명효철, 과학원, 수학과 교수) Vice-President Korea Institute of Advanced Study (고등과학원) Dear Professor Chang and Myung I have just received disturbing information about the case of Dr Myung Ho Kim and his difficulties with Sungkyunkwan University where he was Assistant Professor of Mathematics. I know from my contacts with Korean scientists the enormous strides that have taken place in Korea and the efforts you are making to establish scientific contacts with the international community. I have supported such moves, particularly when I was President of Royal Society. In the interests of the international standing and reputation of Korean science, it would be helpful if you could look into the merits of Dr Kim's case and give him the appropriate support. Yours sincerly, Michael Atiyah