Temporary Teacher Leaked CSAT Mock Exam Papers in Open Chat While Hiding Teacher Identity

Photographed June and September 2022 Mock Exam Papers with Mobile Phone
Illegal Admission Consulting While Hiding Teacher Identity

A high school contract teacher accused of leaking the CSAT mock exam papers externally was sentenced to a fine.

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported that Judge Ji Hyun-kyung of the Criminal Division 12 at Busan District Court sentenced contract teacher A, who was indicted for violating the Higher Education Act and the Act on the Establishment, Operation, and Private Tutoring of Academies, to a fine of 7 million won.

On the 4th, during the June mock exam for the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test, third-year high school students at Yeouido Girls' High School in Seoul are writing their names on the answer sheets for the first period Korean language section. Photo by Joint Press Corps

A is accused of photographing part of the "2023 College Scholastic Ability Test June Mock Exam" papers with a mobile phone at a high school in Busan on the day of the CSAT mock exam in June 2022, and then delivering them to instructor B in a KakaoTalk open chat room that A operated. A is also charged with leaking part of the September mock exam papers to B in the same way in August of the same year. The June and September mock exams are the tests most similar in format to the CSAT, conducted by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, the main organization responsible for the CSAT test creation.

In addition, from October to November of the same year, A received 500,000 won per month in exchange for providing illegal consulting on high school students' special notes in their school records through KakaoTalk chats and phone calls. Under the Higher Education Act, teachers affiliated with schools are prohibited from private tutoring. Ultimately, A was dismissed from the high school where they had been employed since March 2019 in December 2022.

The first trial court pointed out, "The defendant concealed their teacher status while operating a KakaoTalk public chat room, leaking CSAT mock exam questions and conducting private tutoring, which is a serious offense." The court added, "However, considering that the leaked exam questions were provided only to one member of the exam chat room on the exam day for problem-solving purposes, the private tutoring period was less than one month, and the 500,000 won received as payment was returned, the sentence was determined accordingly," explaining the reasoning behind the sentencing.

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