[2020 National Audit] 254 Cases of Fraud in National Qualification Exams Detected Over the Past 5 Years

Lee Su-jin: "In addition to the 3-year eligibility restriction, stronger penalties are needed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] It has been revealed that 254 cases of cheating were detected in national qualification exams over the past five years. The most common type of cheating was the use of notes, with 157 cases, followed by 72 cases of using electronic communication devices, 3 cases of exchanging work, and 2 cases of proxy testing.

According to the status of cheating in national qualification exams submitted by the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation to Lee Su-jin, a member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (proportional representation), 254 cases of cheating were detected from 2016 to August of this year.

One major case involved cheating using a mobile phone during the civil engineering technician written exam held at Nohyeong Middle School in Jeju in October 2019. Mr. A was caught by a proctor after attaching a mobile phone to his stomach with tape and connecting earphones to his left arm to communicate with the outside.

In the same year, in November, at the practical exam site for fire protection equipment technicians held at Gwangju University, a test-taker was caught by a proctor after writing various formulas on the back of an engineering calculator and on the desk to solve problems.

In May of this year, during the written exam for information processing technicians held at Mokpo Technical High School, a test-taker who possessed a scroll-shaped note densely written with exam-related content was caught by a proctor and fled outside the exam room holding the note.

Rep. Lee said, “The fact that around 50 cases of cheating occur annually is a serious problem,” and added, “In addition to restricting the eligibility of cheaters to take exams for three years as is currently done, stronger punishments are needed to eradicate cheating in national qualification exams.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.