South Korea tax accountancy exam cheating, Digi Mart USA News (South Korea): A candidate who placed first in South Korea’s certified tax accountancy exam has admitted cheating using a miniature camera, mobile phone and artificial intelligence tools, according to a video published on the YouTube account of his lawyer, Lee Don-Ho, as reported by the BBC.
In the video, Han Won-seok, 34, said he had confessed to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and described how he cheated in both the first and second rounds of the exam. He said he photographed the test questions with a microcamera, sent them to an AI tool and checked his answers on his smartphone.
Han scored 397.5 out of 400 points in the first round, getting just one of 160 questions wrong. That result initially raised suspicions and sparked online speculation.
He had previously denied any wrongdoing, but said he changed his mind after thinking about the candidate who finished second.
The Ministry of Employment and Labour and the Human Resources Development Service held an emergency meeting after the admission. Presidential policy chief Ha Jun-kyung said new measures would be introduced to prevent cheating and that past crimes would be pursued.
The government said anyone found to have used AI to cheat in the exam will have their qualification revoked and be banned from retaking the test for five years.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed to Yonhap that it had received a written confession through the test taker’s lawyer and that the case had been assigned to investigators. Han said he cheated to earn money and secure a job that would make his parents proud, according to the report.
The scandal comes days before South Korea’s annual college entrance exam, a major milestone for students. The report also notes that cheating involving AI devices has become more prominent, including two college applicants reported last month to have used AI glasses at two Seoul universities.
