Court: "Undermining Exam Fairness"
A Chinese international student who hired a proxy test-taker to obtain the Korean language test score required for admission to a domestic university was sentenced to a prison term with a suspended sentence.
According to the legal community on the 13th, Ma Eun-hyeok, Chief Judge of Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Western District Court, recently sentenced Jin Mo (26), a Chinese national indicted on charges of obstruction of official duties by deception and forgery of official documents, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension.
In August 2022, when Jin needed a Korean Language Proficiency Test score to enter a domestic university, he sought a student to take the exam on his behalf.
After seeing an illegal proxy test advertisement online, Jin paid 5,370 yuan (approximately 1 million KRW) and handed over his test admission ticket and alien registration card to a Chinese national, A.
In October 2022, A took the 48th Korean Language Proficiency Test at a university testing center in Asan, Chungnam, impersonating Jin.
The court explained the reason for the ruling, stating, "By obstructing the legitimate duties of the public official in charge of the Korean Language Proficiency Test and fraudulently using the alien registration card, an official document, the fairness of the exam was compromised, warranting a corresponding punishment."
Factors favorable to Jin included his admission of the crime and the fact that the forged score was not actually used in society.
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