South Korea to seek criminal charges against students cheating with smart glasses
- South Korea plans criminal complaints against students caught using smart glasses to cheat on its national university entrance exam.
- Cheats would also be barred from retaking the exam for three years, up from one year now.
- The rules are unlikely to apply to next month's exam but are targeted at next year's sitting.
South Korea plans to file criminal complaints against students caught cheating with smart glasses on its national university entrance exam, and to bar them from retaking the test for three years instead of one.
An education ministry official, Lee Joon-hyuk, told AFP on Friday that the ministry "will seek criminal charges against students caught cheating with smart glasses" in future.
The plan follows three students caught wearing or holding smart glasses during essay exams run by universities in Seoul. The gadgets can take photos and videos and connect to an AI assistant.
The measures were announced on Thursday. They include posting a designated staff member at each exam centre to spot suspicious eyewear.
Why it matters beyond Korea
Smart glasses are selling fast worldwide, and so is concern about them — from people being filmed without consent to their use by exam cheats. This summer, National Taiwan University in Taipei reportedly disqualified an entrance exam candidate for cheating with AI smart glasses.
For Nigerians, the case is a preview of a question local exam bodies will face as cheap smart devices spread: how to keep public exams credible when a pair of glasses can carry an AI helper into the hall.
In South Korea the stakes are unusually high. The exam, known as the Suneung, is the main route into top universities and is widely seen as a path to a good job and financial security. On exam day, flights are banned nationwide for 35 minutes during the English listening test, except in emergencies, and banks and public offices ask staff to resume an hour later to ease traffic.
Critics have partly blamed the pressure of the country's ultra-competitive education system for teenage depression and suicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
What happens next
The new penalties are unlikely to cover next month's exam. Lee said that with about 20 days to go, changing the law in time would be realistically difficult, but the ministry plans to push for the changes to take effect from next year's exam.
