South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hyung-il has been reported on suspicion of dereliction of duty over the tax accountant exam AI cheating case

On November 15, former Seoul city council member Lee Jong-bae of the People Power Party reported Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyung-il and former Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on suspicion of dereliction of duty, in connection with the AI cheating case in the tax accountant examination. Han Won-seok, who ranked first in the 63rd tax accountant examination, admitted to cheating using devices such as AI smart glasses; this national qualification examination is administered by the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation under government commission, and the first and second rounds of the examination in which the cheating was discovered were held in April and July, respectively. Lee Jong-bae claims that if the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as the commissioning body, could have foreseen the risk of AI cheating but failed to fulfill its supervisory duties and did not issue necessary instructions or improvement measures, this constitutes dereliction of duty. Police received the examinee's confession on the same day and launched an investigation; the Ministry of Economy and Finance is considering convening the tax accountant qualification review committee under the National Tax Service to deliberate on suspending the validity of his qualification certificate in accordance with established procedures. Koo Yun-cheol left office in September after 14 months in the post, and Lee Hyung-il succeeded him on September 22.