Lee: "Block Cheating With Smart Glasses and Other Devices at the Source" ... Orders "Comprehensive Measures" Ahead of CSAT

President Lee Chairs Senior Secretaries and Aides Meeting
Calls for Expanding Measures to All National, Public and School Exams
Also Urges Shift to Entrepreneurial Society, Heating Aid for Vulnerable Groups

President Lee Jaemyung on the 5th ordered the government to develop comprehensive, government-wide measures to completely prevent cheating on exams using advanced devices such as smart glasses. Ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on Nov. 19, he called for stronger exam supervision and for anti-cheating measures to be expanded to all exams administered by national and public institutions and schools at every level.

President Lee Jaemyung and Chief of Staff Lim Kwanghyun enter a senior aides' meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 5, 2026. Yonhap News.

In his opening remarks at the 51st Senior Aides’ Meeting that day, President Lee said, "There have been cases of cheating using advanced devices such as smart glasses, which have recently become the subject of controversy. We must make every effort to prevent this." He added, "We must strengthen training to improve the capabilities of exam supervisors and ensure that on-site response systems are thoroughly in place to completely prevent the possibility of cheating."

In particular, he called for management systems to be overhauled for not only the CSAT but also public exams and school tests in general. President Lee instructed officials to "prepare comprehensive measures to prevent cheating using smart devices in every type of exam administered by the national government, public institutions and schools at every level." He added, "I think we need to prepare these measures quickly."

He also stressed the need to protect exam supervisors. President Lee said, "We must put in place thorough measures to protect on-site supervisors so they can properly perform their duties without being intimidated by unreasonable complaints." His point was that cheating prevention and protection for supervisors must be strengthened at the same time. President Lee emphasized, "We must firmly uphold fairness in every detail, including the smallest things, so that the value of sincere effort is never denied under any circumstances."

He offered words of support to students taking the exam and encouragement to young people who have chosen paths other than the CSAT. He urged the government to make every effort to manage exam venues so that all examinees can demonstrate their abilities in a safe and fair environment.

President Lee also said that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are rapidly reshaping employment structures, and diagnosed the existing growth-centered model of job creation as having reached its limits. "Given the current situation, in which growth is not translating into jobs, it is essential to transition to an entrepreneurial society where diverse economic actors directly create new industries, businesses and markets," he said. He added, "South Korea must become a vast startup incubator and move toward an era of entrepreneurship for all citizens, in which everyone plays a role in growth."

To that end, he called for efforts to focus the nation's capabilities on creating an environment where people can freely start businesses and try again, improving curricula, expanding financial support and innovating regulations. He also said a multilayered support system encompassing financing, technology and market development should be established to help promising startups grow into global companies. Marking Small Business Owners' Day, he stressed the need to establish a virtuous economic cycle in which the benefits of growth centered on exports and large corporations spread to domestic demand, small and medium-sized enterprises, and small business owners. President Lee said, "A major shift in our growth model is needed for the South Korean economy to move beyond quantitative expansion and achieve a qualitative leap."

He also called for livelihood measures to support vulnerable groups during the winter. President Lee said that prolonged war in the Middle East and resulting uncertainty over oil prices and inflation could make it even harder for vulnerable groups to get through the winter, and instructed officials to review the heating cost support system. He also called for stronger safety inspections and cold-weather measures at vulnerable housing facilities such as jjokbang neighborhoods and goshiwon boarding houses, and for the proactive identification of households in crisis that have fallen through the cracks in the welfare system.

President Lee emphasized, "Welfare should not wait for people to come to it; it should reach out to them first. We must make every effort to ensure that no one is unable to receive the government support they need because they are unfamiliar with the system or because the procedures are complicated."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.