Violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act Applied
Received an Average of 100,000 Won per Question
The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (Major Crime Investigation Division) announced that it has booked 69 individuals, including active teachers and private academy instructors, in connection with the private education cartel case. Among the active teachers is a person who participated as a question setter for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).
According to the police on the 22nd, the individuals booked so far include 46 active teachers (including those who retired after committing the crime), 17 private academy personnel (including 6 instructors), and 6 others. Among them, 29 were transferred in the first phase, and 5 were not prosecuted. They received an average of about 100,000 KRW per question, with the maximum amount reaching 300,000 KRW. The private education cartel case consists of a total of 24 cases: 5 cases requested for investigation by the Ministry of Education, 17 cases requested by the Board of Audit and Inspection, and 2 cases from internal intelligence.
The police received the initial investigation request from the Ministry of Education in July 2023 for violations including the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and the following month, they obtained internal intelligence indicating that active teachers sold questions to private education companies and received large sums of money, prompting the start of the investigation.
Fourteen active teachers, including Teacher A, received up to 254 million KRW from April 2019 to November last year as compensation for creating and providing private questions to large entrance exam academies. Around May 2022, Teacher A participated as a reviewer for the June 2023 CSAT mock evaluation and used the question-setting information obtained there to sell questions to specific private education companies. Nineteen active teachers, including Teacher B, concealed disqualifications for CSAT and mock evaluation question setters (such as authoring commercial test preparation books related to the CSAT within the last three years) and submitted false review materials to be selected as question setters.
A National Police Agency official stated, “We will promptly complete the investigation of the remaining private education cartel cases (involving 40 people) currently under investigation,” and added, “We will continue to consult with related organizations such as the Ministry of Education to ensure fairness in the entrance exam procedures and to establish effective institutional improvements that guarantee sound educational order.”
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