The top scorer in South Korea's national tax accountant exam confessed on Sunday, November 15, that he cheated using generative AI — an admission that has rattled a country where standardised tests largely decide social mobility, just days before Thursday's annual college entrance exam.
Source: The Guardian / Reuters
The candidate, identified only by his surname Han in Guardian and Reuters reporting and as “A” in Korean press, ranked first in both rounds of the qualification exam, held in April and July. In the first round he scored 397.5 out of 400, with only one wrong answer out of 160 questions — a near-perfect result that had drawn months of speculation and accusations that he had cheated using smart glasses, which he initially denied.
Source: The Guardian / Reuters
A microcamera, an AI tool and a smartphone
Han confessed through his lawyer that he cheated by taking photos of the exam questions with a microcamera, sending them to an AI tool and checking the answers on a smartphone. “I cheated using electronic devices and generative AI. My passing the exam with the top score was not the result of fair effort,” he said, appearing on the YouTube channel of his lawyer, Attorney Lee Don-ho.
Source: The Guardian / Reuters
The Seoul Economic Daily reported that the electronic devices he bought for the cheating cost only about 110,000 won in total — cheap, off-the-shelf gear — and that he apologised for causing disappointment among test-takers and damaging trust in the fairness of the exam, saying he would hand over any remaining evidence to investigators.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily
Police investigation and an emergency meeting
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it received a written confession through the test taker's lawyer on Sunday morning regarding cheating on the tax accountant exam, and that the case had been assigned to investigators. Seoul Economic Daily reported the case went to the agency's metropolitan investigation unit.
Source: The Guardian / Reuters
The presidential office convened an emergency meeting the same day, chaired by Ha Joon-kyung, director of the Office of Policy Planning, and decided to conduct a full review of suspected AI cheating cases across state qualification exams, Seoul Economic Daily reported. A senior presidential office official told reporters the office viewed the matter very seriously and that countermeasures were being prepared because the college entrance exam is next week.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook had already acknowledged public concerns over AI-assisted cheating on Friday, when the government promised zero tolerance for cheating with AI glasses in the College Scholastic Ability Test, or CSAT, saying specialised staff would be deployed at test sites and criminal complaints pursued, Korea JoongAng Daily reported, citing Yonhap.
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily / Yonhap
What changes for Thursday's exam
For the CSAT on November 19, authorities will put AI device checks in place for all test-takers and assign dedicated staff to each exam site, Seoul Economic Daily reported. Ha called for mobilising all available means, including thermal imaging cameras, while urging that test-takers wearing ordinary glasses or medical devices not be harmed in the process.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily
If organised cheating or new methods are confirmed, authorities plan to form a dedicated team to investigate those behind the schemes, trace how devices such as miniature cameras are distributed, and promote tip-offs. A vice-ministerial meeting of relevant agencies, chaired by the prime minister, is planned for November 16 to discuss further measures.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily
The case is the first high-profile confirmed instance in South Korea of a top-ranked candidate using generative AI live inside a state exam hall. With the CSAT — an exam many students prepare for over years — four days away, officials are now racing to prove the system can still guarantee a fair test.
Officials have not yet said what the police investigation has found, or whether Han's qualification will be formally cancelled. What is already clear is the scale of the reaction: a single confession on a Sunday has forced an emergency presidential meeting, a nationwide review of state exams and new screening for every college hopeful sitting Thursday's test.
Source: The Guardian / Reuters