[EDITORIALS]Cover-up in progress?

It is shocking that investigations have revealed that cheating at the College Scholastic Ability Test was almost a nationwide phenomena. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development announced that, aside from the mobile phone case under investigation, some additional cases, including proxy test taking in Gwangju and the carrying of mobile phones into examination halls in Incheon and Changwon, were detected. It is worrisome how far the cheating scandal will go.
First, the truth about the cheating should be clarified thoroughly. It is said that the police asked the press to take the interim report made on Monday as the final press briefing. It only revealed cheating techniques and the number of collaborators. If the police stop the investigation here, they will be suspected of having adjusted the extent of their investigation out of fear over the shock the cheating will bring to the nation. Such suspicions should be clarified: The number of students involved in cheating is over 140, the same techniques were used repeatedly for some years and a student gang, Iljin-hoe, initiated organized cheating. Also, information listed on Internet sites about payments to proxy testers, cases of promises to take proxy tests and proposals to take proxy interviews, or those who propose to arrange them, should be investigated.
The Education Ministry and the provincial education offices should take primary responsibility for the college test cheating. We have to discover who is responsible for preventive measure against cheating and allowing lax proctoring. This has to be investigated thoroughly. The Education Ministry is said to have warned of mobile phone cheating in Gwangju to related offices. When cheating is anticipated, the government must provide a preventive measure. But the ministry tried to evade responsibility by claiming that a meeting was foiled because the Ministry of Information and Communications was absent. The police can’t be free from responsibility for failing to investigate an advertisement proposing a proxy test, and a tip-off on the cheating plan in Gwangju.
Someone in the government must take responsibility. We can discuss preventive measures after that. Talking about mobile phone detectors, metal detectors, increasing number of proctors, diversifying test papers and limiting violators from taking the exam for three years is evasion of responsibility.