Top scorer in South Korea's tax accountant exam admits to cheating with AI; police transfer case to Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

A, who placed first in South Korea's 63rd tax accountant exam, admitted that in the first and second rounds held in April and July he used an ultra-small camera to photograph exam questions and send them to generative AI, then viewed the answers on a smartphone, and has submitted a self-report detailing the entire sequence to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. He publicly apologized on a lawyer's YouTube program, saying some devices were damaged and that he will submit the remaining evidence to investigators as is. A scored 97.5 in public finance in the first round, and 100 in tax law, accounting, and commercial law, getting only 1 question wrong out of 160; in the second round he scored 192 in Accounting Part 1, 190 in Part 2, 114 in Tax Law Part 1, and 167 in Part 2. The Human Resources Development Service of Korea, which administers the exam on behalf of the government, said two invigilators were assigned to the exam room at the time; A's seat in the first round was in the second row center facing the podium, and in the second round in the first row center, and the cheating was not detected on the spot. Police have transferred the case to the investigation department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and said they will investigate promptly and strictly.