KICE Denial Ends Up Arousing Confusion among KSAT Takers

“Frankly for me, it’s great to acknowledge dual answers to a question. But I feel sorry since the head of [KICE, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation] resigned,” confessed the high school senior student in Seoul who first raised the logical flaw of a physics question on the Korean SAT (KSAT) administered this year.

The 18-year-old student, only known by his last name Lee, sent an e-mail on December 18 to the Korean Physical Society (KPS), raising the logical flaw in question 11 on the physics II section of the KSAT. He didn’t expect his e-mail to arouse such a huge social turmoil.

Lee said, “I just thought the question was contradictory to what I learned at school. That’s why I first raised the problem with the KICE. But it brushed off my inquiry and simply told me I was wrong. I couldn’t stand it. So, I sent an e-mail to the KPS. I hope my inquiry and the ensuing consequences do not disadvantage any students.”

Prior to the acknowledgement, the KICE had finished sending out test results to students, and some schools finished application procedures based on the results. Thus, Lee did not expect much to come of it. All of sudden, however, the KSAT authority changed its position and acknowledged the logical error.

Lee further said, “I hope my case sets a good precedent. In the future, when issues are raised, more independent experts participate in the verification process so that we can avoid confusion.”

An honor student, Lee will watch his KSAT grade on physics rise from 2nd to 1st. Wishing to become an engineer, he has applied for the prestigious Seoul National University, and will apply for a couple more prestigious schools which have extended the application deadline due to the new scoring results.

passion@donga.com