For South Koreans 2007 was the Year of Living Deceptively, according to a survey published Monday
 
For South Koreans 2007 was the Year of Living Deceptively, according to a survey published Monday in the wake of scandals involving fake academics, the nation's top conglomerate¹ and politicians.

A survey of 340 professors selected the Chinese phrase "ja-gi-gi-in" (deceiving yourself and others) from several candidates when asked to sum up the year, newspapers reported.

"Ja-gi-gi-in is the behaviour resulting from one's excessive desire," Professor Ahn Dae-Hoe told the Korea Herald².

"Forging degrees, plagiarising theses and the moral insensitivity of politicians and big corporations have shaken up Korean society for the past year."

The news that a high-profile art curator had faked her degrees prompted a series of similar disclosures, both voluntary and involuntary. The Samsung group is being investigated over claims it operated a massive slush fund for bribery³.

Several government officials have quit over corruption⁴ claims and president-elect Lee Myung-Bak faces an independent probe into allegations he was linked to a 2001 stock manipulation scam. He denies any involvement.

Koreans still use some Chinese characters alongside the indigenous⁵ Hangeul script.

据本周一公布的一项调查结果显示，对于韩国人来说，2007年是“生活在欺骗中”的一年。因为在过去一年中，韩国发生了学术造假及涉及大财团和政府官员的一系列丑闻。

据韩国各大报刊报道，该调查让340名教授从几个备选中国成语中挑出最能概括2007年的成语，结果“自欺欺人”（欺骗自己和别人）当选。

安大会教授在接受《韩国先驱报》的采访时说：“‘自欺欺人’是一种由贪婪导致的行为。”

“在过去一年中，学历造假、论文抄袭、政府官员与大财团相互勾结等一系列丑闻严重影响了韩国社会。”

今年，韩国一位知名艺术系教授被曝学历造假丑闻，这一消息传出后，一系列名人伪造学历丑闻纷纷曝光，有些是主动承认，有些则是被人揭发。而三星集团则因涉嫌非法筹集巨额行贿基金正在接受调查。

数名政府官员因涉嫌腐败而辞职，新任总统李明博也因涉嫌参与2001年的股票操纵案而将接受“特检”。但李明博否认自己与此案有任何联系。

韩国人在使用韩语的同时，仍保留了一些汉字。

Vocabulary:

in the wake of:跟随……而来；作为……的结果

slush fund:an amount of money kept for dishonest purposes, especially in politics（用以收买官员或散布政治谣言的资金; 行贿资金）