Students wait for the start of the annual college entrance exam at an exam hall in Seoul on Nov 13, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Kim Hong-ji/Pool)
Students wait for the start of the annual college entrance exam at an exam hall in Seoul on Nov 13, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Kim Hong-ji/Pool)
SEOUL: South Korean police said on Sunday (Nov 15) they had launched an investigation after the top scorer in a national tax accountant exam confessed to using artificial intelligence to cheat.
The test taker, who ranked first in both rounds of the national qualification exam held in April and July, submitted a written confession through his lawyer and acknowledged using AI to obtain answers during the tests.
He scored 397.5 out of 400 points in the first round, getting just one of 160 questions wrong, sparking accusations that he had used smart glasses to cheat, which he initially denied.
"We received a written confession through the test taker's lawyer this morning regarding cheating on the tax accountant exam," Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said, adding that the case had been assigned to investigators.
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The ministry of finance and economy said it planned to act swiftly to suspend his qualification, according to local media.
In a YouTube video posted on his lawyer's channel, the candidate confessed to cheating, saying he "deeply regretted" what he had done.
"I used a miniature camera to photograph the exam questions and sent them to AI, then checked the answers on my smartphone," he said.
His lawyer added that they could not disclose further details over concerns similar cheating methods could be used by others.
The individual said he had struggled financially after leaving his job and starting his own business.
"I wanted to make money, and I hated seeing myself disappointing my parents after quitting a good job," he said.
The exam is administered by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRDK), a government agency that oversees national qualification tests.
The agency said two supervisors were present when he sat the test.
Authorities have recently stepped up efforts against cheating involving smart glasses.
The HRDK said on Sunday that an "AI inspector" caught a test taker wearing smart glasses during a gas engineer certification exam last month.
In October, the government announced plans to file criminal complaints against students caught using such devices in the national university entrance exam.
South Korea's gruelling college entrance exam, known as the "Suneung" and scheduled for Nov 19, is essential for admission to top universities and widely regarded as a gateway to better economic and marriage prospects.
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