"Mental Distress is Evident Considering the Significance of the CSAT"
Students' Side: "Questioning Whether the Compensation Amount is Appropriate... Planning to Appeal"
A court ruling has determined that the state must compensate students who were harmed by the so-called 'early bell accident' at Seoul Gyeongdong High School during the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), when the exam end bell rang one minute early.
On the morning of the 14th, when the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test was conducted, examinees were waiting for the exam to start at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps
On the 27th, the Civil Division 30 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Seok-beom) partially ruled in favor of 43 students from Gyeongdong High School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, who filed a damages lawsuit against the state, ordering the state to pay each affected student between 1 million and 3 million KRW.
The court stated, "Considering the importance and significance of the CSAT to examinees, the critical nature of adhering to the exam end time, and the individual strategies of students solving questions and filling out answer sheets, it is evident from common experience that the plaintiffs suffered mental distress." Regarding the calculation of compensation, the court explained that it was determined by taking into account the relatively short duration of the early exam termination and the difficulty level of the 2024 CSAT.
However, the court added, "Based on the submitted evidence alone, it is difficult to recognize that the plaintiffs suffered specific additional damages such as marking answers different from what they intended on the OMR answer sheets or receiving lower scores than usual on the CSAT."
The court ruled that among the students who filed the class-action lawsuit, two students are to receive 1 million KRW each from the state, while the remaining students are to receive 3 million KRW each. For the two students awarded 1 million KRW, the court explained, "They submitted answers on the OMR answer sheets during the additional exam time provided after the end of the second-period math exam, but since no marking omissions occurred, this was taken into consideration."
Kim Woo-seok, a lawyer from Myungjin Law Firm representing the students, stated after the verdict, "While the court acknowledged the responsibility of the education authorities, I question whether the awarded amounts of 1 million and 3 million KRW are appropriate," adding, "We plan to appeal the entire decision." He further commented, "The CSAT early bell accident happened before and after this case as well. If the state’s responsibility is not recognized in this way, I believe such accidents will occur again this year."
Previously, on November 16, 2023, during the first-period Korean language exam at Gyeongdong High School, the exam end bell rang about one minute early. The plaintiffs claim that the bell was set manually, and the supervising proctor misjudged the time, causing the incident.
Immediately after the bell rang, some students protested that there was still time left, but the exam papers were collected without granting additional time. Afterwards, the school redistributed the Korean exam papers after the second period and provided an extra 1 minute and 30 seconds for students to transfer their answers onto the answer sheets. The 43 students at the time claimed they were harmed due to the school’s mistake and filed a lawsuit demanding 20 million KRW per person in damages from the state.
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