"I Tried Solving the Controversial CSAT Question" Ahn Cheol-soo Transforms into an Instructor

Controversy Over Question 20 in Life Science II Due to Error
"Lack of Educational Authority's Philosophy, Caused by Complacency"
"Will Take Responsibility to Prevent Such Incidents"

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, personally solved question number 20 of the Life Science II section in the College Scholastic Ability Test. / Photo by Ahn Cheol-soo YouTube capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, personally solved question 20 of the Life Science II section in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which has sparked controversy over a question error. He pointed out that the controversy was "due to the lack of philosophy and complacency of the education authorities," emphasizing, "I will take responsibility and fix it so that such incidents do not happen again."

On the late afternoon of the 15th, Ahn wrote on the examinee community 'Orbi', "I heard that those who took Life Science II could not receive their score reports due to an error in the question, so I was curious about what the problem was and solved the question myself," he said.

He then shared a link to a video in which he appeared. In the video, Ahn stands in front of a screen and highlights the solving process of Life Science II question 20 and the controversial parts. He also explains in detail the key concept of the question, the 'Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.'

The core of this question is to read the passage, find the group among two groups where the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is maintained, and based on this, evaluate whether the truth of three answer choices can be determined. However, it was pointed out that according to the passage, calculations lead to a contradiction where the number of individuals in one group appears as a negative (-) value.

Regarding this, Ahn said, "If you solve the problem mechanically without going through a detailed verification process, you can choose an answer," but he also criticized, "Isn't this a symbolic incident showing the problems of Korean education?"

Candidate Ahn pointing out the error in question 20 of Life Science II, which sparked controversy over a test question error / Photo by Ahn Cheol-soo YouTube capture

He further criticized, "Isn't students’ confidence dropping because they are made to solve problems without understanding their meaning?"

Ahn emphasized, "Fortunately, the court recognized the error in the question today and suspended the validity of the correct answer," adding, "I, Ahn Cheol-soo, will take responsibility and fix it so that such absurd incidents never happen again."

Earlier, some examinees filed a main lawsuit on the 2nd, demanding the cancellation of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation’s (KICE) decision on the correct answer for Life Science II question 20, claiming there was an error. They also applied for a provisional injunction to temporarily suspend the effect of the correct answer decision.

The court granted the provisional injunction on the 9th and ruled on the 15th to cancel the decision on the correct answer. Accordingly, KICE decided to treat all answers for Life Science II question 20 as correct. Furthermore, Kang Tae-jung, the president of KICE who took office in February, announced his intention to resign, saying, "I deeply feel responsible for this incident and will step down."

Meanwhile, since the 13th, Ahn has been conducting a series called 'Cheolsu Market.' Cheolsu Market is a video project where Ahn receives requests from the public and personally provides services, released on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms. Ahn explained the purpose of the project, saying, "Instead of grand narratives or rosy promises, I want to be of practical help in the lives of the people."

In this regard, on the 15th, Ahn also made a unique promotion by listing himself as an item on the used trading platform 'Danggeun Market.' However, since Danggeun Market’s operating policy prohibits the trading or sharing of living things, the post was soon deleted.

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