Government Considers Suspending Validity of Top Scorer's Tax Accountant Exam Pass Over 'AI Cheating'

Move to deliberate and decide through the Certified Tax Accountant Qualification Deliberation Committee
Plan swift action in light of Han's confession

The government is moving to suspend the validity of the certificate of Han Wonseok, 34, who earned the highest score on this year's 63rd Certified Tax Accountant Examination after committing cheating with the help of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and electronic devices.

Certificate of passing the 63rd Tax Accountant Qualification Examination, shared on a blog by Han Wonseok, 34, who earned the highest score. Screenshot from blog.

On the 15th, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said, "We plan to act swiftly to place his passing status on hold as an exceptional measure by suspending the validity of the certificate issued to Mr. Han through the Certified Tax Accountant Qualification Deliberation Committee under the National Tax Service." A ministry official said, "We are reviewing the suspension in accordance with the prescribed procedures," adding, "We intend to convene the committee soon to deliberate and make a decision."

As a rule, penalties for cheating on national qualification exams are imposed after investigative authorities have completed their inquiries and the facts have been conclusively established. However, as Han himself has admitted to the offense, the plan is to put his passing status on hold preemptively before formally revoking it, thereby expediting the administrative process.

Last April, Han passed the first stage of the Certified Tax Accountant Examination with perfect scores in every subject except for one question in Public Finance, out of 160 questions in total, earning 97.5 points in that subject. He scored a total of 397.5 points. Three months later, he also earned 663 out of a possible 800 points on the second-stage exam, claiming the top spot with the highest score ever recorded.

His unusually high score sparked suspicions that he had cheated using smart glasses and other devices. Han, who had consistently denied the allegations, confessed to the offense on the YouTube channel of Lee Donho, his legal representative and managing attorney at Nova Law Firm. He said he had used a miniature camera to photograph the exam paper, sent the images to AI, and received the answers on his smartphone.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit, which was assigned the case, is investigating the details of the offense based on Han's written confession.

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