Top scorer on tax accountant exam confesses to cheating with miniature camera, not smart glasses

Suspect used camera-and-smartphone method, not AI glasses; online posts claim technique already widespread but offer no evidence

Han Won-seok, the top scorer on the 63rd tax accountant exam [YouTube capture]

It was not smart glasses — it was a miniature camera and a smartphone. The top scorer on the 63rd tax accountant exam has confessed to cheating using that method. Online communities have since circulated posts arguing that AI can be exploited in exams even without smart glasses.

Han Won-seok, who placed first on the exam, said Sunday on the YouTube channel of attorney Lee Don-ho, managing partner of law firm Nova, "I cheated on the tax accountant exam" and "my passing at the top of the class was not the result of legitimate effort." Han said the cheating extended to both the first- and second-stage tax accountant exams as well as the first stage of the certified public accountant exam. The method, Han explained, involved "using a miniature camera to photograph exam questions, transmitting them via AI, and checking the answers on a smartphone." Han said the specific steps would not be disclosed to prevent copycat offenses and added that a letter of voluntary surrender had been submitted to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Han had earlier denied allegations of cheating with AI glasses in an interview on Wednesday. On the first-stage exam, Han scored 397.5 out of a perfect 400, missing only one of 160 questions.

The Human Resources Development Service of Korea said it found nothing unusual during the exam administration or the first-stage grading process. It also checked with four exam supervisors who oversaw Han's first- and second-stage tests, and all said they observed no behavior that raised suspicion of cheating. The agency said a confession-based disclosure of cheating was unprecedented and that it was verifying the facts. If confirmed, the passing result could be canceled.

Until now, debate over exam cheating had focused on smart glasses. Between May and June this year, test-takers were caught wearing AI glasses at several licensing exams, including those for fire protection engineers, electrical engineers and gas technicians. Education authorities have banned all electronic devices, including smart glasses, from the College Scholastic Ability Test for the 2027 academic year, scheduled for Thursday. The latest confession shows that cheating is possible with devices other than smart glasses.

Online, a post by one user is circulating alongside screenshots of the confession video. The user claimed that a method combining a miniature camera and an earpiece is already in widespread use, and wrote that hundreds of high scorers on the college entrance exam had used such a technique. No evidence was provided. The author emphasized that the necessary equipment costs as little as 110,000 won ($83) and wrote, "It was a secret, but I'm just making it public now."

The claims drew sharp criticism online. Some users said there were likely many people who had passed exams by configuring AI to target the passing threshold. Others said all exam venues should now cut off Wi-Fi access. Still others said the more serious problem was that the cheating went undetected not once but multiple times, adding that they were worried about how many others might have passed the same way.

A cheating method circulating online [Online community]

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