Police on Sunday accepted a written confession from the top scorer of the 63rd tax accountant examination and launched an investigation into the use of AI to cheat on the test. The top scorer appeared on a lawyer's YouTube channel that day and said, "I cheated on both the first and second rounds of the exam using electronic devices and generative AI," adding, "I wrote everything I did in a confession and submitted it to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency." [Yonhap]
Police on Sunday accepted a written confession from the top scorer of the 63rd tax accountant examination and launched an investigation into the use of AI to cheat on the test. The top scorer appeared on a lawyer's YouTube channel that day and said, "I cheated on both the first and second rounds of the exam using electronic devices and generative AI," adding, "I wrote everything I did in a confession and submitted it to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency." [Yonhap]

The Korean Tax Accountants' Association said Sunday that anyone who cheated their way through the tax accountant examination would not be allowed to practice — even if the fraud was never uncovered by investigators.

According to Yonhap, the association said in a statement that it would introduce a new assessment system during the upcoming practical training for trainee tax accountants, evaluating every trainee's competence and ability in an environment where AI assistance is not available.

The association said its members were deeply shaken by the top scorer's confession to using AI during the exam. "The fact that cheating of an unimaginable and utterly unacceptable nature took place in the tax accountant examination — which has consistently drawn the largest number of applicants and test-takers among all licensed professional exams in the country — has come as a great shock to our members," it said.

The association called on the government and investigative authorities to conduct a thorough inquiry into the agency that administered the exam and to fully investigate the individual who used AI to cheat, any other cheaters, and all those connected to the misconduct. It also called for strict administrative sanctions and punishment under a zero-tolerance policy to prevent any recurrence.

The association also urged authorities to carry out a comprehensive audit of all national professional licensing examinations, given the possibility that AI-assisted cheating may not be limited to this exam alone and the public suspicion it has aroused, and to overhaul what it described as a lax examination management system.

It further called on the government to terminate the outsourcing of the tax accountant exam to the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, which it said had long drawn criticism for weak exam oversight and a lack of expertise, and to take swift steps to restore the credibility of the examination — including having the government administer it directly.


husn7@heraldcorp.com