Han Won-seok, the top scorer in Korea’s latest tax accountant qualification exam, admits to using artificial intelligence to cheat, in a video posted Sunday on his lawyer Lee Don-ho’s YouTube channel. Captured from Lee Don-ho’s YouTube channel
The top scorer on Korea’s recent tax accountant qualifying exam admitted Sunday to using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and a camera to cheat, overturning his previous rejections after his unusually high scores attracted public attention.
“I cheated on the tax accountant exam,” Han Won-seok said on the YouTube channel run by his lawyer Lee Don-ho. “I sincerely apologize for the harm my wrongdoing has caused so many people.”
Han’s results attracted attention because he answered 159 of 160 questions correctly on the first-stage tax accountant exam in April, with a score of 397.5 out of 400. Three months later, he scored 663 out of 800 on the second-stage written exam and was named top scorer overall.
His exceptionally high scores had fueled online speculation about possible cheating. Experts including chartered tax accountants and tax lawyers argued that the near-perfect score on the first test was “almost impossible”, suggesting he could have used AI smart glasses.
It turned out that Han’s cheating method wasn’t the AI glasses. He said he used a miniature camera and a smartphone instead. But he refused to divulge further details, saying he wanted to prevent others from copying him.
“I cheated by using a miniature camera to photograph the exam questions, sending them to the AI and checking the answers on a smartphone,” he said. “I will fully cooperate with (police) efforts to identify and prevent cheating in future exams, including other qualifying exams and the national college entrance exam. I will tell investigators everything, including how I prepared and practiced.”
Han also admitted to using the same method to cheat in the first stage of the recent chartered accountant exam.
The same day, the Seoul Metropolitan Police announced that it had opened a formal investigation into the case, promising “prompt and rigorous” investigative efforts. Han’s written confession has already been submitted to the agency.
Explaining his motivations, Han said he struggled to run his own business after leaving his corporate job, citing increased operating costs linked to the war in Ukraine.
“I wanted to make money and I hated seeing myself disappoint my parents after leaving a good job,” he said.
He added that he wanted to make his parents proud by becoming a chartered tax accountant, but the fear of not knowing how long it would take made him “extremely anxious”.
An official responsible for detecting smart glasses at Seoul’s university entrance exam sites examines a pair during a training session at the Seoul Metropolitan Bureau of Education on Wednesday. Joint press corps
The admission comes amid growing concern over cheating linked to the use of AI ahead of the National College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) scheduled for Thursday.
Korea’s Human Resources Development Service, which administers the tax accountant exam, initially said it found no concrete evidence to support the cheating allegations. Four invigilators who supervised Han during both stages of the exam told the agency they noticed no suspicious behavior or signs of cheating.
These initial findings raise the question of whether the cheating would have been exposed if Han had received less visible scores or if he had kept a lower profile. After the test results were announced, he posted his results on an online community of tax accountants and explained how he would have passed the self-study, which attracted scrutiny and ultimately led to his admission.
Following Han’s admission, the agency apologized for failing to prevent the cheating and announced it would file a criminal complaint against him for obstructing business.
“We deeply apologize for failing to prevent cheating as administrator of the exam,” he said in a statement. The agency pledged to cooperate fully with investigators and use its findings to strengthen review procedures.
The case also prompted Cheong Wa Dae to hold an emergency meeting, chaired by presidential policy chief Ha Joon-kyung, to review measures against AI-assisted cheating, ahead of the CSAT.
Ha urged the Ministry of Education and other agencies to examine all possible risks and deploy available tools, including thermal cameras, to prevent cheating.
“Examination fairness is directly linked to public trust, and no form of cheating should be tolerated,” he said. “All ministries must develop comprehensive measures to prevent the recurrence of cheating exploiting AI and other new technologies.”
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