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Korea University nullifies entire midterm over chat room cheating scandal

Published: 10 Nov. 2025, 15:12 Updated: 10 Nov. 2025, 17:49

Korea University's campus in Seongbuk District, northern Seoul [KOREA UNIVERSITY]

Another large-scale cheating scandal has erupted, this time at Korea University, following a similar incident at Yonsei University. Korea University invalidated an entire midterm exam after evidence emerged that students exchanged test questions and answers through a KakaoTalk open chat room.

The cheating took place in a general education course whose name roughly translates to “Interdisciplinary Understanding of an Aging Society,” a large-scale online lecture with about 1,400 students enrolled, according to the school on Monday.

On Oct. 25, the day of the midterm — which was conducted online — some students opened a KakaoTalk chat room, shared screenshots of the exam questions and discussed the answers in real time. The misconduct was brought to light by reports from other students.

In a notice posted on Oct. 27 under the title “An Unprecedented Midterm Incident,” the university wrote, “Professors were deeply shocked that such an incident took place at a prestigious university,” and added, “As the cheating cannot be overlooked, we are taking the extraordinary step of nullifying the entire midterm.”

Up to 500 students are believed to have participated in the chat room. Originally created as a community to share class-related information, the chat room was used on exam day by some students to upload screenshots of test questions and discuss possible answers.

“We’ve confirmed that exam screenshots were shared in multiple chat rooms,” said a university official. “We are in the process of disciplining those involved and reviewing how to run the final exam, as well as additional measures to prevent recurrence.”

The scandal has further heightened alarm across campuses, coming on the heels of a similar cheating case at Yonsei University involving AI.

At Yonsei, several students in a course titled “Natural Language Processing and ChatGPT” were found to have used generative AI tools during the midterm exam. The professor warned that “students who do not come forward will face suspension in accordance with school regulations.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]