South Korea Will Prosecute Students Who Cheat With AI Glasses — and Bar Them for Three Years

October 29 — South Korea plans to bar students who cheat with AI smart glasses in the national college entrance exam from taking it for up to three years. Starting with this year’s exam, every test site will have a staff member dedicated to spotting smart glasses, and the government is considering deploying signal-detection equipment next year. The move follows a run of smart-glasses cheating cases at exams around the country.

The education ministry announced the package on 29 October local time. Its core aims are to punish cheating more severely while reducing the burden on invigilators to identify and rule on violations.

The ministry first plans to amend the Higher Education Act, extending the exam ban for cheating students from the current one year to three. Under existing rules, a student who wears or uses smart glasses has their results voided and cannot sit the exam the following year. Refusing an invigilator’s request to inspect the glasses brings the same penalty after verification. Even bringing smart glasses into a test site without using them invalidates the results.

Penalties will tighten further. The ministry regards cheating with smart glasses as a deliberate, premeditated obstruction of a national exam and plans to pursue criminal liability, filing complaints or seeking investigations on charges such as obstructing official duties and business. In a 2005 case, a student involved in a group that shared answers by mobile phone was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. The ministry also recommends that universities apply the same strict standards to their own admissions tests from this year.

Inspection procedures will change too. From this year’s exam, each test site will have one staff member dedicated to identifying smart glasses. When an invigilator spots suspicious eyewear, that specialist rules first; if necessary, the local education office, the ministry and the emergency command centre at the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation review the case. The specialist will also patrol the site and help invigilators as needed.

Protections for invigilators will be upgraded as well. This year all invigilators are covered by liability insurance with broader coverage and faster claims, including not only damages but legal and litigation fees. From the 2028 academic year, the ministry also plans to adjust invigilation pay to a more reasonable level.

The ministry is pursuing technical measures at the same time. Specialist organisations are developing signal-detection equipment suited to exam halls, and the ministry will assess it before deciding whether to deploy it at test sites next year.

“We will keep introducing measures to create a fair and stable exam environment for students while reducing the workload on invigilators,” a ministry official said.