Artificial intelligence enabled the top scorer on South Korea’s national exam for aspiring tax accountants to cheat, according to a confession released on Sunday.
Han Won-seok admitted to using generative AI and a miniature camera to obtain near-perfect marks, reversing months of public denials following the tests held in April and July, The Korea Times reported.
Han answered 159 out of 160 questions correctly in the first stage of the qualification exam in April, scoring 397.5 out of 400 points. Three months later, he scored 663 out of 800 in the written second stage to secure the overall top ranking. Online speculation immediately targeted his methods, with experts suggesting he used smart glasses during the testing process.
“I cheated using electronic devices and generative AI. My passing the exam with the top score was not the result of fair effort,” Han said on the YouTube channel run by his lawyer, Lee Don-ho, as reported by Hürriyet Daily News.
Han bypassed early accusations involving smart glasses, explaining through his legal representation that he relied on physical hardware to relay questions. He photographed the exam pages with a microcamera, transmitted the images to an AI system, and read the generated responses on his smartphone.
“I cheated by using a miniature camera to photograph the exam questions, sending them to AI and checking the answers on a smartphone,” Han said. He also confessed to using the same technique during the first stage of the certified public accountant examination.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed receiving a written confession on Sunday morning and assigned the case to investigators for a formal review. Vendors in Seoul markets previously said that modified recording equipment with Wi-Fi capabilities sells for between 700,000 and 800,000 won, according to SBS 뉴스.
The scandal erupted just days before South Korea’s annual College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), heightening pressure on national testing authorities. Standardized tests carry immense weight for social mobility and career placement across the country.
“The presidential office views the matter very seriously, and because the college entrance exam is next week, we have been working hard to prepare countermeasures,” a senior presidential office official said on Sunday. “prepare thoroughly in advance and closely oversee the process until the very end to ensure the college entrance exam is conducted fairly and stably,” a statement from the office of Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said.
Lawmakers urged the education ministry to deploy thermal imaging cameras and additional screening tools to secure testing sites. The Human Resources Development Service of Korea said that an inspector caught a test taker wearing smart glasses during a gas engineer certification exam last month.
Han scored 397.5 out of 400 points, answering 159 of the 160 questions correctly.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received the written confession and assigned the case to investigators.
The first stage occurred in April and the second stage was held in July.