The confession and the methods of the fraud
The candidate who had ranked first in South Korea's exam for certified tax accountants has admitted to cheating using a mini-camera, a mobile phone and artificial intelligence tools. This is reported by the BBC, according to which Han Won-seok, 34, confessed in a video published on his lawyer Lee Don-Ho's YouTube channel, adding that he had already given details of his fraud methods to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
According to Han's own account, the fraud took place in both parts of the examination: the questions were photographed with a micro-camera, sent to an artificial intelligence system, and the answers were then checked on the smartphone. The initial score was 397.5 points out of 400 in the first stage, with only one error out of 160 questions: a result that had raised suspicions among the online public and given rise to speculation.
At first Han denied the accusations. He explained that he had changed his position after thinking about the feelings of the candidate who came second, and he apologized to the other participants who had passed the tests legitimately, arguing that because of him other qualified candidates are now also coming under suspicion.
The consequences announced by the government
After the confession, the Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Service convened an emergency meeting. The policy chief for the South Korean president, Ha Jun-kyung, announced the introduction of new measures to prevent fraud and warned that offenses committed in the past would be 'pursued and fully established'.
The government specified that anyone found guilty of using artificial intelligence to cheat on the exam will lose their qualification and will not be able to retake the test for five years. The Seoul police confirmed to the Yonhap news agency that they had received a written confession that same morning through the candidate's lawyer and had assigned the case to investigators.
The scandal comes a few days before the annual university admissions exam, considered in South Korea a decisive step for students' educational and professional paths. The case fits into a context in which, according to the BBC, standardized national tests carry significant weight in careers and fraud cases are not rare.
The AI-glasses precedent and the points to be verified
The case is not isolated. Also according to the BBC, last month two university candidates allegedly tried to cheat on admissions exams at two Seoul universities using glasses with artificial intelligence. Data from the Ministry of Education cited by the source also indicate four cases of fraud with AI glasses in middle and high schools over the past twelve months.
Some elements remain to be verified: the source does not specify which artificial intelligence tools were used or how the fraud system was detected. It is also unclear whether the new measures announced by the government are already in force or still being defined, nor what criminal consequences, beyond the revocation of the qualification and the five-year ban, may fall on the candidate. Han's position was made public through his lawyer, and police confirmed they had launched an investigation, but at the time of the report there were no further judicial developments.
