Attorney says client will 'faithfully comply' with fact-finding procedures
The top scorer on the 63rd tax accountant licensing exam has retained legal counsel as allegations spread that the candidate used AI-equipped smart glasses to cheat, sources said.
Lee Don-ho, managing attorney at Nova Law Firm, posted a public notice Friday on the firm's website and social media identifying the firm as the legal representative of the exam's top scorer, known online by the nickname "Semunyangi."
"Our client will faithfully comply with all necessary procedures to verify the facts surrounding this matter," Lee said in the notice.
The cheating allegations erupted after the candidate publicized a success story through a personal blog under the nickname "Semunyangi" and several tax-focused media outlets.
According to the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, which administers the exam, the candidate passed both the first- and second-round tests of the 63rd tax accountant exam, held in April and July respectively. In the first round, the candidate answered 159 of 160 questions correctly — missing only one question in public finance — for an average score of 97.5. In the essay-based second round, the candidate scored an average of 82.87 points on a 100-point scale, more than 33 points above the passing threshold of 49.75 for all second-round subjects.
Particularly striking was a perfect score in introduction to tax law. Critics noted that achieving a perfect score is physically implausible given that examinees must answer 40 public finance questions and 40 introduction to tax law questions within 80 minutes. Among the 16,856 people who sat the subject this year, the average score was 30.18 points and the failure rate was 74.21 percent. A freedom-of-information request by other examinees reportedly revealed that no one other than the top scorer had scored 90 or above.
Kim Jae-hwan, a tax attorney and former National Tax Service investigator, raised sharp doubts on his YouTube channel. "A perfect score is impossible — it makes no sense," Kim said, adding that he felt like filing a criminal complaint to get to the bottom of the matter.
After online users flooded the "Semunyangi" blog demanding proof of the glasses worn on exam day, the candidate shut down the comments section.
In an interview with a media outlet, the candidate denied the allegations, saying, "If you could get a perfect score with AI glasses, why would anyone bother studying?" The candidate added that any questions answered incorrectly were approached using the process of elimination.
The Human Resources Development Service of Korea also said it had not confirmed any cheating. Exam supervisors from both the first and second rounds all stated that they observed "no behavior or unusual circumstances that would raise suspicion of cheating."
However, the exam venue was a school classroom with no closed-circuit television cameras, leaving no clear physical evidence. The agency is currently having the second-round essay answer sheets reviewed again by grading experts.
As the controversy grew, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook posted on X on Friday, saying the government would "do its utmost to resolve the allegations through a thorough investigation, including a referral to investigative authorities." Han added that "if cheating is confirmed, those responsible will be held accountable accordingly."
jshan@heraldcorp.com
