IOC drops plagiarism probe into Moon DS

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― The International Olympic Committee has dropped an ethics investigation into a South Korean member accused of plagiarism.

IOC president Thomas Bach says the ethics commission closed the case into athlete member Moon Dae-sung, a former gold medalist in taekwondo who was accused of plagiarizing much of his university doctorate thesis.

The investigation began in April 2012.

Bach says the IOC repeatedly asked the university for its own findings, but has yet to receive its decision.

As a result, Bach says, the ethics panel “decided to close this file at least for the time being” but it could be reopened if new facts emerge.

In May, the IOC reprimanded Hungarian member and former Hungarian President Pal Schmitt after a university panel found that much of his thesis had been plagiarized.