[EXCLUSIVE] The man behind the LK-99 superconductor controversy

The group of researchers behind much-hyped research claiming to have developed a room-temperature superconductor remain largely shrouded in mystery as many of them are not currently affiliated with an academic institution.

[SHUTTERSTOCK]

A group of researchers behind the much-hyped research claiming to have developed a room-temperature superconductor remain largely shrouded in mystery as many of them are not currently affiliated with an academic institution.

Lee Suk-bae, a lead author of the manuscripts detailing the discovery of a compound named LK-99, presently heads a privately-held company named Quantum Energy Research Centre, which is based in Songpa District, southern Seoul.

He graduated from Korea University with bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry, the university confirmed. He went on to earn a Ph.D. degree at the same institution in microelectronics with his dissertation presenting a theoretical examination of Gallium-linked polyphosphazene as a potential superconducting material.

The dissertation was approved by the university in 2004.

Around that time, he worked at the Institute of Basic Science, a research institution under Korea University, although Lee does not hold any position at the university now.

“Lee worked here a long time ago, about 20 years ago,” an official at the Institute of Basic Science told the Korea JoongAng Daily, while declining to specify the time frame.

He took the title of adjunct professor at Dongguk University’s information and communication engineering department in 2008, according to the university, the year that he founded and held the CEO title at the Quantum Energy Research Centre.

“We can’t say when he finished the professor position, but he is presently not an adjunct professor at Dongguk,” said a spokesperson at the university.

Born in 1972, Lee is now 51 years old, based on the information filed with Dongguk University.

The Korea JoongAng Daily contacted Lee multiple times to confirm the data, but he could not be reached.

The filing process for the now-viral manuscripts was unconventional as the lead author accused Kwon Young-wan, one of the co-authors, of submitting them on a preprint repository called arXiv without his consent.

Lee, the paper’s first author, later replaced the initial submission filed on July 22 with an updated paper without Kwon’s name.

Lee and Kwon are now separated due to disagreements over the overall research direction, according to a source in the science field with knowledge of the matter.

“The two are now at odds and they are not doing any joint research,” the source said. “This is because they have differing opinions over where the research should go in the future.”

Kwon serves as a research professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology.

Local media outlets reported that Lee will likely have a press event in a month to announce the latest developments of the research.

The website of Quantum Energy Research Centre is currently shut down after it misstated Korea’s major corporations like Samsung SDI and LG Innotek as its partners.

The companies denied any partnership with the Quantum Energy Research Centre.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]