South Korea's Ministry of Education said Thursday it will pursue criminal charges against students who use AI smart glasses to cheat on the College Scholastic Ability Test, the national university entrance exam known as the CSAT. The ministry also wants to bar offenders from retaking the exam for up to three years, up from the current one-year ban.
The ministry said it would treat smart-glasses cheating as a deliberate attempt to disrupt a national examination, warranting a police investigation. Offenders could face charges of obstructing official duties through fraudulent means. Extending the retest ban to three years requires an amendment to the Higher Education Act.
The crackdown follows a run of AI-device incidents. A test-taker wearing smart glasses was caught during a regular TOEIC English test in May, and similar cheating was later found during essay-based entrance exams at the University of Seoul and Yonsei University.
Key facts
- 01South Korea's Ministry of Education will pursue criminal charges against CSAT test-takers caught cheating with AI smart glasses.
- 02The ministry wants the retest ban raised from one year to three years, which requires amending the Higher Education Act.
- 03One designated staffer will check for smart glasses at each of the 1,312 CSAT test sites, starting with the November 19 exam.
- 04Radio-wave detectors under development could be supplied to test sites as early as next year if they prove practical.
- 05Smart-glasses cheating was caught on a TOEIC test in May and at University of Seoul and Yonsei University entrance exams.
This year's CSAT takes place on November 19. Starting with that exam, each of the 1,312 test sites nationwide will have one designated staff member responsible for determining whether a suspected device is a pair of smart glasses, patrolling exam rooms as needed.
When a device cannot be identified on site, emergency response teams linking regional education offices, the ministry and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation will step in. The ministry is also assessing radio-wave detectors being developed by specialized institutions, and could supply them to CSAT sites nationwide as early as next year if they prove practical.
The rules are already tight on paper. Smart glasses were added to the CSAT's list of prohibited items in July, along with guidelines for handling violations. Bringing smart glasses into a test site, even inside a bag, invalidates a student's exam, and refusing an invigilator's request to check for the devices can draw the same penalties after review.
The ministry will recommend that universities apply the same penalties to their own entrance exams, including essay tests and interviews, starting this year.
The government is pointing to precedent for criminal punishment. In 2005, CSAT test-takers who exchanged answers by mobile phone in an organized scheme received eight-month prison sentences, suspended for two years.
Proctors are getting new protections as well. All CSAT invigilators will be enrolled in liability insurance with broader coverage, including attorney fees and litigation costs, and the ministry aims to improve proctor pay starting with the 2028 exam.
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