"To Education Office, To Parents"... Flood of Complaints Surrounding 2024 Suneung

Examinee "Bell rang 1 minute 30 seconds early"... Lawsuit announced
Seoul Office of Education to press charges against parent for 'threatening CSAT proctor'

More than two weeks have passed since the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was held, but a more sensitive atmosphere than usual continues, with accusations and lawsuits being discussed among parents, students, and education offices.

On the 30th of last month, a post titled "Looking for students who ruined their CSAT due to the bell ringing error at Gyeongdong High School" was uploaded on the examinee online community 'Orbi.'

A Naver cafe established to recruit affected examinees.
[Photo by Kyungdong High School CSAT Test Site Affected Examinees Meeting Cafe]

A, who identified themselves as a victimized examinee, stated, "I was filling out the answer sheet while watching the clock as usual under tight time constraints when suddenly the bell rang." They added, "The examinees in the test room, including myself, were very confused and could not mark properly. Some students were even stopped from marking after the bell rang."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education acknowledged that a mistake occurred during the manual bell ringing in the first period Korean language test and redistributed the first period Korean test papers after the second period math exam ended. Examinees were given 1 minute and 30 seconds to solve problems and record answers, but corrections were not allowed.

A said, "The additional condition for the retest was that answers already written could not be corrected." They continued, "Students who could not mark properly and marked answers in a row immediately after the bell rang had no choice but to stare into space during the extra time given." A protested that the additional time granted could not be equal to the originally allotted time since the bell had rung early, breaking the flow.

Currently, after consulting a lawyer, A has opened a Naver cafe called 'Gyeongdong High School CSAT Test Site Victimized Examinees Group' to recruit affected students. Membership requires verification of the exam admission ticket, and as of the morning of the 2nd, 24 members have joined.

On the afternoon of the 17th of last month, students and parents were reviewing materials at the Jongno Academy 2024 CSAT Results and Regular Admission Score Prediction Briefing held at Daeyang Hall, Sejong University, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. This is a stock photo unrelated to the incident.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the other hand, there was also a case where the Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education filed charges against parents.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced, "On the afternoon of the 1st, together with the Ministry of Education, we will file a complaint with the Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul against parents who violated teachers' rights by harassing CSAT cheating detection supervisors, on charges of intimidation, defamation, and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act."

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Teachers' Union, parent B, known as a police officer, academy instructor, and lawyer, visited the school where their child's CSAT supervisor worked on the 17th of last month and verbally abused the teacher with statements such as "I am a lawyer, and since you ruined my child's life, I will ruin yours too," and attempted to enter the teachers' office but was stopped.

B's child was caught cheating by the teacher supervisor while marking answers after the CSAT end bell rang at a school in Seoul on the 16th of last month. On the 17th, B held a solo protest in front of the local education support office, and B's spouse also held a solo protest in front of the school on the 21st of last month.

On the 27th of last month, B posted a statement on the internet cafe they operate, saying, "I am only sorry to the teacher involved, and I hope for a settlement, but even if not, I want to at least show remorse through a deposit." They added, "The solo protest was the biggest mistake. The child's mother held a solo protest for about 30 minutes to save the most important CSAT in her life. I am very sorry again as this seemed to have greatly shocked the teacher, and I should have stopped it but failed to do so."

B emphasized that there was no illegal procedure in identifying the supervisor's workplace, stating, "My daughter remembered the supervisor's name by looking at the name tag." However, B also stressed, "My child did not write answers after the end signal. Even if my spouse and I do not know, please correct only my child's cheating."

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