Tag: cheating

Man Caught Taking Employment Exam for His Twin Brother

This is like something out of a Korean drama:

Bank of Korea (Herald DB)
Bank of Korea (Herald DB)

Twin brothers are under investigation, with one twin allegedly taking an employment exam for a public financial institution on behalf of the other in 2022.

The Bank of Korea and Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday reported the twin brothers to the police for cheating on their entrance exams, which took place simultaneously on Sept. 24, 2022.

While the younger of the twins took the exam for the BOK, the elder twin took the exam for the FSS, which was taking place in another part of Seoul at the same time pretending to be his younger twin.

The two institutes hold the first step of their recruitment exam on the same day every year to prevent possible confusion from overlapped applications. The BOK and the FSS announced the shared test schedule in advance last year.

With high income and job stability, they were regarded as some of the most preferred destinations for job seekers, for which the day of their simultaneous test was called an “A-match” among would-be employers of financial companies.

Both brothers passed the exams, enabling the younger one to move on in both organizations’ recruitment process until he was finally admitted to the BOK, the suspects stated in a BOK internal inspection report.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

USFK NCO Caught Up in Bizarre Child Custody Dispute

Here is a really messed up story involving a USFK soldier who had his wife cheat on him, get pregnant, then falsely claim the child was his, and then falsely claim the baby died at child birth:

Sgt. Steven Garcia holds the baby, who is at the center of an unusual custody battle.

A South Korea-based soldier has been entangled in a monthslong drama complete with a cheating spouse, long-distance lies and kidnapping charges.

Sgt. Steven Garcia, 24, is a patrol supervisor with the 142nd Military Police Company at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. In January, he was told that his wife, Marina Garcia, had given birth to a daughter back home in Arizona who died during childbirth.

“When my sister called me about that, it was pretty emotional,” Garcia told KVOA News in Tucson. “We cried quite a bit together over the phone. It was devastating.”

But he soon learned it wasn’t true.

On Feb. 5, an Arizona highway patrolman pulled over an out-of-state vehicle for speeding north of Willcox, Ariz., according to court documents. Inside was a Texas couple and a newborn.

Upon questioning the couple – Alex Hernandez, 33, and his wife, Leslie Morin Hernandez, 41 – the trooper learned that neither was a biological parent of the 3-day-old infant, the documents said.

Further questioning at the police station revealed that Alex Hernandez had fraudulently signed the birth certificate as the father after Marina Garcia arranged to give the child to them.

The Hernandezes were taken into custody, and the baby, who relatives said is named Leo, was handed over to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety.

Later that day, detectives questioned Marina Garcia, who was living in Sierra Vista with her boyfriend, an Army specialist. She admitted to conspiring with the Hernandezes and planned to travel to Texas to sign away her parental rights after recovering from delivery, according to court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but Sergeant Garcia unsurprisingly wants a divorce.  He also wants custody of the baby even though it is not his because he was a child that was adopted.

As unfortunate as this story is, I could not help, but think about this article after reading it.

ACT Exam Cancelled In South Korea After Test Questions Leaked

Another year and yet another cheating scandal in South Korea:

education logo

Operators of the ACT college entrance exam on Saturday canceled the tests for students in South Korea and Hong Kong at the last moment over what they said was a verified breach of test materials.

The cancellation affected about 5,500 test takers who will receive refunds of test fees, according to ACT spokesman Edward Colby, who said the company believes it was the first time the exam was canceled for an entire country.

The ACT, an Iowa-based nonprofit organization, had planned to administer the tests at 56 different locations in South Korea and Hong Kong on Saturday morning. The ACT decided to cancel the test soon after it received “credible evidence” that the test materials had been leaked, Colby said.

“We are extremely concerned about any activities that could impact the fairness and integrity of the test. When individuals attempt to profit by stealing test materials and selling them, it can hurt thousands of students who did nothing wrong, as it has in this case,” Colby said in an email conversation.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

  1. You can read more at the link, but cheating on these standardized tests has been a long term problem.  It seems some Koreans tend to believe in the old military saying of “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”

Korean Students Accused of Cheating On 2014 SATs

When it comes to these exams the Koreans have definitely set the standard for cheating on them.  This seems to happen every year:

education logo

Some students in two Asian countries likely cheated on the SAT exams administered in October and November of this year, the Educational Testing Service has confirmed.

In October, scores were withheld from residents of South Korea and China as ETS, which administers the test worldwide, investigated possible cheating on the exam administered that month. Following a review, the firm determined that “a small number of test-takers had an unfair advantage on the test,” ETS spokesman Thomas Ewing told The Huffington Post on Monday. “ETS is contacting directly these test-takers to inform them that valid scores cannot be provided.”

Citing confidentiality concerns, Ewing declined to say how many scores were invalidated but noted that “the majority of scores” are valid.  [Huffington Post via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that the SAT had to be cancelled last year in Korea because of widespread cheating.

South Korea Accused of Cheating During Asian Games

Via a reader tip comes news that many nations are unhappy with what they believe is cheating that is going on at the Asian Games in favor of host South Korea:

The 2014 Asian Games ends Oct. 4, Saturday in Incheon, South Korea and it appears to close on a low as rampant cheating allegations have been levied against hosts. Fans of different athletes and teams from other Asian nations are up in arms online and elsewhere for questionable and controversial results in the quadrennial event with most outcomes favouring South Korea.

The most blatant alleged cheating happened in the sport of boxing involving women fighters from India (Sarita Devi) and South Korea (Park Jina).

The South Korean won the semifinal match in the lightweight division despite the Indian boxer dominating the fight. Devi made his stand during the medal awarding ceremony refusing to receive the bronze medal and even giving it to the Korean.

“It was a protest for all the sportsmen and women of the world against injustice in sport. There should be fair play in sport,” the Indian boxer Devi said to the press about her actions at the podium.

Aside from the India vs. South Korea controversy, other countries like Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and a few other countries felt slighted by the results in some other matches although there were no formal protests filed. [International Business Times]

You can read more at the link, but it seems hosts being able to cheat during international competitions has become standard practice now a days.