'Take Off Your Mask'... Mass Arrest of Chinese Brokers and Proxy Test Takers for the Korean Language Proficiency Test

Exploiting Difficulty in Matching Dozens of Faces with IDs to Commit Crimes
One Fugitive Wanted After Fleeing to China, One Local Broker Under Surveillance

Photo materials [Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Chinese nationals who exploited mask-wearing to take the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) on behalf of others and brokered the cheating have been caught in large numbers by the police.

The Uijeongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 26th, "We have arrested 14 people, including 7 Chinese nationals who took the exam on behalf of others under the charge of obstruction of official duties by deception, 6 Chinese international students who requested proxy test-taking, and 1 broker who arranged the proxy test-taking."

The suspects are accused of taking the 82nd TOPIK, held last May at Kyungmin University in Uijeongbu (administered by the National Institute for International Education under the Ministry of Education), on behalf of others and brokering the proxy test-taking.

According to the police investigation, the method used by the 6 Chinese international students (who requested the proxy test-taking) exploited the difficulty exam supervisors had in verifying the identities of dozens of masked test-takers by comparing their faces with their ID cards one by one during the COVID-19 situation.

As it became difficult to obtain the required TOPIK level (level 4 or higher) for graduation and degree requirements, they commissioned the crime by paying 5,000 yuan (approximately 1 million KRW) to a broker through a Chinese job-seeking website, and the broker recruited proxy test-takers for 400,000 to 500,000 KRW per person.

Their crime was uncovered when an exam supervisor became suspicious of the difference in appearance between the test requester and the proxy test-taker during the identity verification process on the exam day.

The police arrested the proxy test requesters and the broker through communication inquiries and financial account tracking.

Additionally, one proxy test requester who fled to China before a departure ban was issued is currently wanted, and one broker in China is under investigation.

The police stated, "There is a concern that cheating during the TOPIK exam may increase among test-takers," and added, "We will recommend related institutions such as the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for International Education to strengthen identity verification of test-takers and improve systems to prevent cheating."

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