27 Applicants Suspected of Hiring Substitute Exam-Takers in Seoul


By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter


Police officers check application forms for the college entrance exam at an office of the provincial education office in South Chungchong Province, Wednesday, to detect substitute exam-takers. / Yonhap


The number of students suspected of cheating on the college entrance exam using cell phones has increased by 103 over the figure for the first detected groups in Kwangju, according to police on Wednesday.

The head of a privately-run cram school in Chongju, North Chungchong Province, was found to have relayed mobile text-messages of answers in the exam to seven applicants after receiving them from an exam-taker.

Investigators quoted the 30-year-old school chief as stating that he relayed the messages containing the answers to multiple-choice questions in the Korean and foreign language tests to the seven through his personal computer. But the suspect denied allegations that he received money from students.

Police said they were stepping up their investigations as the school operator may have sent the messages to other applicants.

In Inchon, two university students turned themselves in to police, saying that one of them took the test in place of the other, the actual applicant.

And in Seoul, a student of a medical college also gave himself up to police. He is suspected of taking 400,000 won in return for sitting in for a high school graduate.

Seoul police also said they had detected 27 applicants whose photos on exam IDs differed from the actual applicants after comparing with photos on 6,800 applicants’ registration cards in Seoul. Investigators are trying to confirm cases of suspected substitute exam-takers.

Police in other regions around the country have also started checking some 20,000 high school graduates who submitted exam applications directly to local educational authorities, not to their former high schools.

There are allegations that some of the applicants might have hired substitutes to gain better exam scores.

After analyzing the text messages of cell phones recorded by the mobile operator KTF, police said they had discovered 21 more students in Seoul, South Chungchong Province, North and South Cholla Provinces, Kwangju and South Kyongsang Province who exchanged exam answers.

After police announced Tuesday that analysis of message records of SK Telecom and LG Telecom had revealed 82 students in 21 groups involved in cheating, the total number reached 103 in addition to the 185 exam-takers first detected in the southwestern city of Kwangju.

It was also found that three seniors in Seoul questioned by police Tuesday on suspicion of cheating were students of a foreign language high school in which students usually get high scores. They had also reportedly cheated using the same method in other exams held in the school in the past.

The police said they will expand the investigation to more messages that contain not only numbers but also certain words related to multiple-choice answers, including the names of subjects like ``math’’ or ``science.’’

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old female university student, identified as Pan, gave herself up to Inchon police, confessing that she asked another university student, identified as Lee, 20, to take the exam in her place.

Pan allegedly gave Lee 2 million won in exchange for taking the test, and promised to give more if Lee got a high score. Pan applied for the test and posted Lee’s photo on the exam ID for the exam, according to the police.

With the cheating scandal widening, there is speculation that students or parents may file compensation suits against the state for slack supervision of classrooms during the test. Complaints are likely to be voiced if the college entrance process is delayed due to the investigation.

However, judicatory circles say it will be hard to prove how loose the supervision was and to what degree students have been harmed.

Some speculate that students may file administrative suits against the state demanding that the authority change the test, which is now crucial to the selection of university freshmen, into a qualifying one.

After deliberation with experts, the Ministry of Information and Communication said that the installation of devices to intercept electrical communication in classrooms during exams may be impossible, as the shortcomings may outweigh the advantages.

The ministry is considering adopting other devices for detecting electrical communications.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr