July 15, 2026
soul – South Korean prosecutors have filed a summary indictment against a man in his 40s for using AI-equipped glasses to cheat on a national qualification exam, marking the first case in the country involving this device.
Gwangju District Public Prosecutors Office indicted the man last month on suspicion of violating the National Technical Qualifications Act, local media reported on Monday.
He was arrested in May while taking the fire equipment certification exam in Gwangju. The test proctor noticed light reflecting off the lenses of his glasses and became suspicious.
In response to the investigation, the man admitted to cheating and stated that he had developed an AI app that works with the glasses and wanted to check whether the correct answers would be displayed correctly.
In the same month, two other men in their 20s were also arrested at the National Technical Qualification Examination Center in Seoul and Mokpo in a similar scheme.
AI glasses have also been used in several TOEIC cheating cases, with two people arrested in May and one in June.
On July 10, officials from the organizations that administer major national qualification exams held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.
They considered explicitly adding AI glasses to the list of prohibited items in exam rooms and significantly increasing sanctions for those caught cheating.
