South Korean teacher and mother arrested for stealing exams
The country is known for placing extreme emphasis on academic achievement, with its annual college entrance exam forcing planes to be grounded during English listening tests.
The pair are accused of breaking into a high school in Andong, about 270km south of the capital Seoul, at around 1am on Jul 4 to steal exam papers, triggering an alarm and leading to their arrest.
"A 31-year-old teacher and the 48-year-old mother have confessed to the crime," said a detective at the Andong Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The teacher was a private tutor for the student while working at the school, where she was employed until February last year, authorities said.
Police suspect the pair may have committed similar thefts in the past, helping the student ace academically, and that money was exchanged between the teacher and the mother.
"They tried to steal exam papers across many subjects, not confined to Korean, which the suspect was teaching," the detective told AFP.
A school maintenance worker was also arrested for aiding the late-night breach, investigators said.
The student, who had maintained top grades since enrolling in 2023, has been expelled and her grades nullified, according to the Yonhap news agency.
It is the latest in a series of exam-related scandals in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Nearly 250 public and private school teachers were caught selling mock exam questions to private institutions over six years, earning an average of US$61,000 per person, according to the state audit body in February.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
a day ago
- CNA
South Korea wins UK appeal over arbitration ruling in Samsung merger case
LONDON :South Korea on Thursday won its latest appeal in its dispute with U.S. hedge fund Elliott over the 2015 merger of two affiliates of Samsung, shortly after the electronics group's Chairman Jay Y. Lee was cleared by South Korea's top court. The South Korean government was ordered to pay Elliott around $100 million by the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2023. Elliott had sued over the role played by South Korea's National Pension Service in approving the $8 billion merger between Samsung C&T, in which Elliott was a minority stakeholder, and Cheil Industries. South Korea sought to challenge the tribunal's decision at London's High Court, arguing the tribunal did not have jurisdiction under a free trade agreement with the U.S., but its case was rejected last year. The Court of Appeal, however, allowed South Korea's appeal and sent the case back to the High Court, to decide the challenge to the arbitration tribunal's jurisdiction. Its ruling came hours after Lee was ultimately cleared of accounting fraud and stock manipulation over the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
South Korea's top court upholds acquittal of Samsung boss in fraud case
SEOUL: South Korea's highest court on Thursday (Jul 17) upheld the acquittal of Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong after he was cleared of a slew of charges linked to a controversial merger, ending a years-long legal drama at the tech titan. Prosecutors claimed the deal was designed to seal control of the company for Lee, at a cost to shareholders, accusing the 57-year-old of stock price rigging, breach of trust and accounting fraud. He was originally cleared of the charges at a trial late last year, and that was upheld by an appeal court in February, a decision that was challenged by prosecutors. However, the Supreme Court upheld the original decision on Thursday, bringing an end to the saga. "All appeals were dismissed and the lower court's rulings were upheld," court documents seen by AFP said. The charges related to the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T - a construction and engineering firm - and Cheil Industries. Lee did not appear at the court, but Samsung's legal team welcomed the ruling, saying it "clearly affirms the legality of the merger between Samsung C&T and the accounting practices of Samsung Biologics". "We express our sincere gratitude to the court for its wise and thorough judgement after five years of careful deliberation," they added. Lee was jailed for 18 months in a separate fraud and embezzlement case following a sweeping investigation that also brought down former president Park Geun-hye in 2017. Lee, current executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of South Korea's sprawling Samsung group, was released on parole in August 2021, having served half his sentence. He received a presidential pardon the following year, then returned to management shortly afterwards, and was officially named executive chairman in October 2022. With the acquittal, experts say Lee is now in a position to take on a more visible leadership role at South Korea's largest conglomerate. "Chairman Lee is likely to resume a more public role, with his leadership becoming more visible through overseas trips, investment announcements and participation in major events," Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University, told AFP.
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
South Korea's Lee orders new investigation team to look into deadly 2022 crush
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered the setting up of a new investigation team, involving police and prosecutors, to look into the deadly Halloween crowd crush that killed 159, mostly young people, in 2022, his spokesperson said on Thursday (Jul 17). Lee's move to launch a new probe came as he met the bereaved families of victims from recent major disasters, including the Halloween crush in Seoul's Itaewon district, his spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told a briefing. Lee, who took office in June, has promised to make the country safer and to prevent any repeat of the disasters in recent years that have often been blamed on the inadequate response by authorities. The president said the new investigation team would work alongside a special commission that was launched in September last year to look into the case, according to the spokesperson. At the meeting with Lee, Song Hae-jin, a representative for the families of the crush victims, said police records and information regarding the government's response to the disaster had been withheld from the special commission. During his meeting with the bereaved families, Lee bowed deeply as he apologised for any failures by the authorities. "As the head of the state, I would like to formally apologise on behalf of the government for failing to fulfil its responsibility to protect the lives and safety of the people, and for the many people who lost their lives as a result," he said as some relatives wept.
