Cases of Proxy Exam Takers Also Large in Scale

Following the elaborate state-run university entrance exam cheating scandal involving mobile phones this year uncovered during police investigation, the use of proxy exam takers is beginning to be revealed on the surface.

In the case of proxy exam takers, the criticism toward the overall test supervision seem to have intensified since the education authority has poorly checked student identities not only during the test but also during application processing.

“Proxy Exam Takers Could Be over 100”-

The Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency stated, “After finishing the confirming operation until December 2, we will be able to have a grasp of the situation.” It has uncovered 27 student photos on the application form that differed from that of the resident cards among the 6,832 students who submitted application forms to the appropriate Office of Education.

Considering the 27 students who were found to have hired a proxy exam taker, the police is calculating that there will be more than 100 such cases nationwide when the similar proxy exam takers ratio is postulated.

The Seoul police station, including local police stations nationwide, is currently in the process of comparing the pictures on the application forms with that on the resident cards of the applicants to detect any proxy exam takers.

Professional Broker Revealed?-

The police suspects that there is a possibility of the parents knowing beforehand about the proxy exam takers and having a role, considering that it is hard for a student to act alone since the price of proxy exam takers is expensive. The price is said to be from several million won to 10 million won, depending on the area.

J (20, female), who was found to have requested for a proxy exam taker in Gwangju said, “I heard that the price range is 6 ~10 million won for proxy exam takers in the Hak-won areas of Dae-chi-dong, Seoul.”

In the case of proxy exam takers, both the applicant and the proxy exam taker will be punished severely, with arrest as a fundamental procedure.

It is noteworthy to see if the hearsay about professional brokers, who brings the college students who try to earn money on the internet with the clients, is revealed during the investigations.

The Limit of Police Investigation-

However, some are pointing out that it will not be an easy job uncovering the entire situation since there are limits to the police investigations.

Currently, the police officers are checking application forms for the college entrance exam, comparing the photos on the applicants’ registration cards to verify if the applicant and the testee are the same person.

However, like the Gwangju case, if the student puts his or her picture on the application form and a proxy exam taker takes the test, it is impossible to detect unless the test supervisor finds out during the test.

Past Proxy Exam Takers Not a Crime?-

As the number of proxy exam takers appears to have risen for this year’s college aptitude test, the controversy of whether to look into past acts of proxy exam takers is surging.

For interference with a government official in the execution of his duties crime, which justifies punishing the act of proxy exam takers, there is no legal problem in the investigation or the punishment since the period for prosecution is five years.

The public opinion seems to be “by punishing the wrongdoers, whether it happened in the past or at the present, we should make it a fair competition.”

However, the police stated, “It will be difficult to expand the investigation to check for proxy exam takers in the past since the Office of Education only keeps the application form for a year.”

Jin-Kyun Kil needjung@donga.com leon@donga.com