South Korean police have launched an investigation after a candidate who emerged as the overall best performer in a national tax accountant qualification examination admitted using artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat.
The candidate, who ranked first in both stages of the examination conducted in April and July, confessed through his lawyer that he secretly photographed examination questions and submitted them to an AI tool to obtain answers.
He scored 397.5 out of 400 in the first stage, answering 159 of the 160 questions correctly.
His remarkable performance had raised suspicions of cheating, with allegations that he might have used smart glasses to access outside assistance.
He initially denied the allegations.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed on Sunday that it had received the candidate’s confession through his lawyer and had assigned the case to investigators.
“We received a written confession through the test taker’s lawyer this morning regarding cheating on the tax accountant exam,” the police agency said.
In a video shared on his lawyer’s YouTube channel, the candidate expressed regret over his actions, admitting that he used a miniature camera to capture the examination questions before seeking answers through artificial intelligence.
“I used a miniature camera to photograph the exam questions and sent them to AI, then checked the answers on my smartphone,” he said.
Explaining his decision, the candidate said financial difficulties and pressure to succeed after leaving his job to establish a business contributed to his actions.
“I wanted to make money, and I hated seeing myself disappointing my parents after quitting a good job,” he said.
His lawyer declined to provide further information about the cheating technique, citing concerns that revealing additional details could encourage other candidates to adopt similar methods.
The examination is organised by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, which disclosed that two supervisors were present during the candidate’s examination.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have intensified efforts to prevent examination malpractice involving artificial intelligence and smart glasses.
The Human Resources Development Service of Korea said an AI-powered monitoring system recently detected a candidate wearing smart glasses during a gas engineer certification examination last month.
In October, the government also announced plans to initiate criminal proceedings against students caught using smart glasses to cheat in the country’s national university entrance examination.
The development has heightened concerns ahead of the annual university entrance examination, popularly known as the Suneung, scheduled for November 19.
South Korean presidential chief of staff Lim Kwang-hyun said the government was taking the growing threat of technology-assisted examination malpractice seriously.
“The presidential office “has been working hard to come up with measures to address it,” chief of staff Lim Kwang-hyun told reporters.
“A meeting to discuss those measures will be held this afternoon, chaired by the presidential chief of staff for policy, and preparations are underway,” he added.
